


Till Halloween

by Yaoi_Girl



Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Boys' Love, Humor, Lemon, M/M, Romance, Sexual Content, Shounen-ai
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-08-01
Updated: 2012-08-08
Packaged: 2017-11-11 04:32:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 25,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/474550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yaoi_Girl/pseuds/Yaoi_Girl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lavi has a new sweets loving neighbor and snooze button repeat offender extraordinaire, Allen Walker, and an adopted kitten.  Can Lavi manage to keep away from his old party habits to keep Allen in his life, or will he loose him forever because of a drunken mistake?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Disclaimers: I don’t own D.Gray-man.  I’m just using the characters for my entertainment!  Enjoy!

Notes: This fic is AU.  Lavi has both eyes and Allen has no scar and a normal arm.  I also made up birthdays for them even though they have official ones, as it was appropriate to the story.  :D

** Chapter 1 **

He was hearing things…he was sure of it.  Or so Lavi tried to convince himself for several long minutes.  However, he finally caved and lazily rolled his head towards the direction of his alarm clock, fighting his eyes open against the sleep.

‘It’s _much_ too early for this,’ he thought as he closed his eyes against the bright numbers that read 9:30.

In the apartment room directly next to his, he heard a constant banging and shuffling of things across the floor and against the wall, sometimes followed by a string of muffled curses.

‘Just what I need…new neighbors.  And I was just getting used to having no one to bother me,’ he mentally sighed as he rolled completely over and sat up, swinging his legs over the bed.  ‘I’ll never get back to sleep now.’  He could only hope the new neighbors weren’t this noisy everyday in the ‘early’ morning.

You see, Lavi was a very, very late afternoon sleeper most days.  And this?  This was torture to him.

He was a college student living on his own (though his expenses were paid through an allowance from his parents on a weekly basis) and his classes were late in the afternoon to early evening.  And after that?  Why partying, course!  So this ruckus was definitely an intrusion to his usual sleep pattern and routine.  Not to mention the fact that it was Saturday and he could _really_ sleep in.

Not being able to withstand the noises any longer, the redhead stood and shuffled across the grey carpet to his bathroom to begin his daily ritual of shit, shower, and shave.

“Now what can I do to entertain myself?” Lavi grumbled as he finished toweling his hair dry, flinging the damp object hap-hazardously towards the bathroom before heading down the hall, turning in the living to his kitchen.

The first thing that came to mind was to feed his face, though he wasn’t really hungry.  But it beat sitting on his couch all day and snacking on junk food while he watched his usual weekend line-up.

Stifling a yawn, he began rummaging through cabinets and his refrigerator until he decided on eggs, bacon, and pancakes.

_‘Wait!  A college student cooking?’_ you might ask?  Yes, only because Lavi loved to cook.  Cleaning on the other hand usually fell by the wayside.  Sweets were his specialty.

Even after he ate, he still had some time to kill before his first show started, so against his protesting mind he washed the dishes and cleaned the neglected stovetop.

And after that ordeal was done and over with, along with a load of laundry started, he slunk to the living room and curled up on his super comfy black leather couch with his favorite fleece throw and began to flip through the channels.  He still had at least 15 minutes to wait before noon.

‘Isn’t there anything of interest worth watching this early?’ he thought as he finally settled on a cooking show, but his semi-attention to that was short-lived as something of definite interest caught his eye, strolling idly past his huge front window with his father.  ‘And who are you?’ he thought as he took in as many details of this young man as he could.

The boy in question was someone Lavi had never seen before with beautiful light blue, grayish eyes and shiny silvery colored hair.  His shirt seemed to be bit out of season, seeing as it wasn’t so cold outside that he would need a sweater _and_ a jacket despite it being early spring.

No sooner than they both vanished from his limited line of view, Lavi began to wonder if they could possibly be his new neighbors, but sticking his head out the door and yelling after them might set them off on the wrong foot.  He didn’t want the label ‘creepy guy next door’.

For several moments, Lavi replayed the small instance in his life that this unknown teen had walked past his window.  ‘He has to be a high-school brat,’ he mused.  ‘But still, he’s pretty damn cute.’

As he began changing the channel to his first stop of the day, he heard the faint pounding of footsteps echoing off the wall of the apartment building of his floor, his breath catching as his eyes again followed the laughing teen out of sight of the window.

He thought he could make out the faint jingling of keys, and assumed he was correct as the door next to his opened and closed only moments later, the teen streaking past his window one more time, though this time with no jacket.

‘So now I know who’s living next door.  So do I get to kill him or his father for waking me up?’ he smirked as he once again turned his attention back to the television.

As the end of a restaurant commercial ended, Lavi then entertained the idea of inviting them over for dinner as a friendly welcome.  And there was also that little demon nagging him about finding out more about this silver haired teen.

“Jeez, what’s wrong with me?” he mumbled as he realized that he was already beginning to obsess over the neighbor boy.

And yes, if you must know, the redhead leaned _that_ way, if you catch the drift.  Though he was one of the rare few that got the most out of a steady relationship, despite his constant party habits, and he was known to shoot down any unwanted one night stands or men trying to toy with him.  He hated the idea of being thought of as nothing more than a piece of juicy meat.

For several hours after the new, albeit noisy, neighbors had left, Lavi sat and watched TV, loosing track of what time it was since he had no idea how to set the clock on his VCR/DVD player (he was old school like that and liked to watch VHS tapes every once in a while) and so lost track of what shows would normally be on that he watched.  But he was so far out in left field that it didn’t matter.  All he could see was the teen in his mind.

A rather loud and obnoxious commercial jarred him from his thoughts, however, and brought him back to the growing reality that he needed to relieve his bladder.  It was only natural after finishing off two 2-liters of soda through the afternoon.

No sooner than he had stood up and set his blanket aside did the father and son catch his eye again.

‘Bathroom can wait!’ he thought, feeling giddy for no apparent reason, as he raced towards his door.

He could hear them fumbling through a key chain and knew he still had time to catch them before they disappeared inside their new home, and so he threw open his front door a little faster than intended, scaring the poor teen standing just behind his father.

“Sorry about that!” Lavi grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck at the realization of what he had just done.  “I just wanted to see who the new neighbors were.”

The father blinked a few times, focusing on the redhead as though he hadn’t really heard him come busting out the front door.  He then smiled warmly, apparently deeming Lavi safe, offering his hand.  “Mana Walker.”

“Lavi,” the olive-eyed youth offered as he shook Mana’s hand.  “I’d tell ya my last name, but you’d forget it instantly or wouldn’t be able to pronounce it, let alone spell it,” he laughed as Mana continued to smile.  “And you are?”

“Allen,” he said, barely audible as he lowered his gaze from Lavi’s almost instantly.

“He can be a little shy around new people,” Mana explained with a shrug.

Lavi continued to eye Allen.  “Would you guys like to come over for dinner tonight?”

“That’s awfully kind of you to offer, but we ate while we were out.”

After hearing just the boy’s name from those lips, all he could hear was that voice in his head.  He wasn’t going to give up easily on this venture.

“How about tomorrow, then?” Lavi offered.

“Let’s see, today’s Saturday, I’m off tomorrow…so, yeah.  Tomorrow would be perfect.”

“Great!  Do you guys have any preferences on food or dessert?”

At the mention of the word ‘dessert’, Allen’s head whipped up with wide, child-like eyes.

“Dessert?” Allen repeated.

Mana merely laughed as he clapped his son on the shoulder.  “As if you couldn’t tell, he loves sweets.  And whatever you make will be fine, I’m sure.”

“Really?  And it just so happens that I love to make sweet things,” he grinned before turning back to Mana.  “So, tomorrow around 5:30?”

“Sounds wonderful.  I’d love to chat some more, but I have to finish unpacking some things, so good-night,” he smiled again before entering his home.

Allen, however, lingered a bit longer on the walkway, worrying his bottom lip with his teeth.

“Sorry I’m so awkward and quiet,” he said as he shoved his hands in his pants pockets, rocking a bit on his heels.  “I’ve never really been around anyone my own age.  I only know how to deal with people my dad’s age or really little kids.”

“But, you go to school right?  Surely everyone there is the same…” Lavi began, his eyebrows furrowed in obvious confusion.

“I was home school all my life.  My dad moves so much for his job that he didn’t want to settle me into a school and become attached to too many people that I would never see again.  So his logical choice was a single teacher that could be changed out when we moved.  But I’ve been taking college classes online for almost 2 years now.”

“And how old are you?” he asked, dumbstruck.  There was no way this kid was 19-20 years old.

“I’ll be 18 in three weeks.”

“What day?”

“The 13th of April.  When’s yours?”

“Halloween day!  Candy and cake till I puke my guts out!” Lavi laughed.

Allen smiled, still unsure of exactly how to behave before he suddenly raised his hand in an awkward wave.  “I’d better get inside.  I still have to unpack some stuff too before bed.”

“Alright then, I’ll see ya tomorrow!”

And with a shuffle of feet and another wave, Allen disappeared behind the door into number 417.

‘Soon to be 18 and already has college under his belt, huh?  Must be a freaking genius!’ he thought as he shut his own front door, remembering with a vengeance that he had to pee and dashed down the hall.  He idly thought he could hear more things scratching the wall and more cursing as he kicked his bathroom door shut with his foot on his way to the toilet.

On the other side of that wall, Allen was struggling to get his sheets on his new mattress, yelling and cursing when he thought he succeeded in the matter only to have one or more of the corners come flying away from the mattress.  But once he had finally defeated his bed, he curled up tightly under three blankets to shield himself from the bitter cold that his father had already released upon the house in the form of the air conditioner blasting on its lowest setting.

The silver haired teen them smiled beneath his haven of blankets as he thought about his day, this city, and his new, attractive neighbor that he wanted to learn more about.  Maybe hang out at his place from time to time to thaw out.  ‘It’ll be nice to be able to be around someone closer to my age for once,’ he thought as he began to drift to sleep, his dreams seeming to revolve a lot around Lavi.


	2. Chapter 2

** Chapter 2 **

Oh, how Lavi wished he could break down the wall separating him from Allen and throttle him.

To his knowledge, this hour alone he had been woke five times courtesy of Allen’s alarm clock blaring an annoying *beep* repeatedly, for not just one or two of these sounds, but up to 50.  Lavi counted and was most definitely not in the slightest pleased.

Lavi wasn’t even entirely sure what time it even was; he was just guesstimating since it was still dark outside.  And the sixth time it went off, he huffily climbed out of bed, launching his covers to the floor in a flurry for good measure, and headed to the bathroom.

After relieving himself, he shuffled to the sink, looking in annoyance at his reflection before dousing his face with cold water to cool down.

However, that cool down period was short lived.  As he stumbled over the towel he had chucked toward the bathroom the day before, he growled.

“Really, Allen?  Really?!” he spoke loudly to his room before slamming his fist into the dividing wall in total and complete annoyance.

He was satisfied to hear that Allen had fallen out of his bed, but the alarm blared on.

“Sorry, Lavi!” the teen apologized through the wall as he clambered back onto his bed and smashed the snooze button again , cradling his now bruised elbow after his encounter with the hard wood floor.  Sadly, his multitude of blankets did nothing to break his fall, for you see, they were wrapped tightly around his legs and hindered him even getting off the floor.

As the redhead sighed in relief at the silence that followed, he, too, climbed back into bed, though he felt it unnecessary to retrieve his blanket as he was still heated and annoyed.

“Really?” he sighed a few minutes later, totally defeated and over the situation, at the person knocking at his door at 7:30.

“Did I wake you?” Allen asked innocently as he stood huddled outside the door with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders.

“No!  Not at all!” Lavi sarcastically replied as he rubbed his right eye with the heel of his hand, glaring down at Allen with the other.  “What in the world are you doing up this early, or trying to do seeing as you’ve abused your snooze button?”

“Actually, nothing.  It’s just habit to have it set, I guess…”

Biting back whatever was going to spew hatefully from his mouth, Lavi took a deep breath and closed his eyes, Allen fidgeting nervously as he knew he had pressed some kind of bad button.

“What are you doing here at 7:30 while I’m trying to sleep?”

“It’s just that…my dad lives with the air on cold no matter the season, and I’m freezing to death!  I just thought, you know, since you were up, I might be able to thaw out over here for a bit?” he pleaded.

Apparently either appeased with this answer or too tire to care, Lavi gestured for him to enter.

“Look,” Lavi began as the silver haired teen took a spot on the couch, “I don’t mind you coming over and all, but I don’t have anything to really entertain a guest.”

“I don’t really need entertaining; just a warm place to sleep for now is fine,” he smiled, on the brink of falling asleep already.

“Well, just don’t be setting your alarm early every morning to come here to finish sleeping.  I swear I’ll break down that damn wall or that damn clock the next time it happens!” Lavi semi-snapped, totally irritated that he _still_ wasn’t curled back up in bed.  He then sighed loudly and averted his gaze.  “Look, I’m sorry.  I get really grouchy in the morning if I’m woke up unexpectedly…”  But Allen didn’t hear anything he had just said.  He was out cold.

‘I’ll let you sleep for now,’ the redhead thought idly as he stood there for a few moments, taking in that angelic face.

As he shuffled back down through the hall to his room, he began to think of waking up next to that cute and innocent face every day.

‘Ah, but he’s still a kid!’ Lavi reprimanded himself.  He had always gone after the older guys, or rather he let them chase him.  But again, always for a relationship, never a one or two night stand.  ‘It’s just because I’ve been alone for so long, and he’s someone sober to relate to unlike the party animals I normally hang around.’

Shaking these thoughts from his mind, he lazily picked up his blanket and lay down, not caring that the blanket was now on the bed facing the wrong direction and his feet were sticking out.  “Silence at last!”

It was some odd hours later, much closer to his normal wake up time that Lavi tried to roll over and felt a breeze sweeping across his neck, warm and slightly moist.

‘What the hell is he thinking?!’ he thought in slight alarm at finding the new neighbor boy curled up beside him under his own blanket, though he didn’t have the heart to wake him.  So he climbed out of bed as gently and quietly as he could and began his usual morning routine before heading off toward the kitchen.

‘I really need to go grocery shopping,’ he mused as he rummaged around in his cabinets and fridge for something to cook them for breakfast.  ‘BLTs it is.’

As the last of the bacon sizzled to perfection in the skillet, Lavi headed back to his bedroom and attempted to wake Allen.  However, this proved to be quite the difficult task.

“Allen,” he whispered in the boy’s ear as he gently shook him by the shoulder.  “I made breakfast, so get up.”

The sleeping teen merely groaned, furrowing his eyebrows as he tried to roll away from Lavi, but Lavi caught hold of his blanket and began to tug it away from him.  Only then did Allen wake with the cutest embarrassed blush the redhead had ever seen.

As he stared wide-eyed at Lavi, all he could manage to stutter was some form of apology that the other really couldn’t make out.

“Calm down already!” Lavi laughed as the silver haired teen buried his face in his hands.

“I’m sorry!  So, so sorry!  I was just still so cold and I knew it’d be warmer in here with you!”

The olive eyed youth smiled cheekily as he shook his head, ruffling the already mused silver locks of hair.  “I can tell you’ve never been around many other people.  A normally socialized person usually wouldn’t just climb into their neighbor’s bed after having just met them the day before.”

Allen looked close to tears from embarrassment, his hands now balled up on his lap and beginning to shake.

“But I’m not upset about it!” Lavi quickly went on, placing a hand on one of Allen’s.  “It just freaked me out a little since I’m not used to having anyone next to me when I wake up.  It’s fine, really.  Now come eat some breakfast before it gets cold.”

The younger boy sniffed back his tears and looked up the Lavi.  “Breakfast?”

“Alright, fine, lunch if you want to be picky.  Sandwiches are good for any meal!”

As if on cue at the mention of food, Allen’s stomach growled rather loudly, causing him to cover it with his arms in slight shock of the noise.

“You wouldn’t happen to have anything warm for me to wear, would you?” Allen asked a moment later as he began to throw his legs over the side of the bed, a shiver running down his spine.

Lavi tossed Allen a hoodie from his closet, again shaking his head with a smile as the other quickly put it on over his long sleeved T-shirt.  ‘At least he has some fleece PJ bottoms on to help keep warm…’

While Allen then made use of the bathroom, Lavi returned to the kitchen and began to assemble their meal, placing two plates of food and drink on the table.

“You’ve just given me another reason to come over in the mornings now,” Allen grinned as he pulled out his chair.

“Oh, yea?  What’s that?” he asked as he began to chug half of his juice.

“You feed me.”

“Don’t get too used to it.  I don’t cook real food every day.  It’s usually instant stuff.”

“I’m the same way.  My dad never really has time to cook, so I’m left to fend for myself most of the time.  And if it doesn’t come with microwave directions, I’m screwed.”

Lavi chuckled as he watched Allen more or less devour his food at this moment.

“I really appreciate you inviting us over for dinner tonight.  Usually if we were invited to someone’s house or out for something, we couldn’t go because of dad’s work schedule, so the timing is perfect for once.  And I’m glad.”

“Hey, if I could afford the extra time, I’d cook for you guys every night.  It would give me something to do other than party, but I do have homework I have to catch up on every now and again.  But once summer break gets here I can cook a lot more for ya.”

“I’ve never been to a party before,” Allen admitted softly.

“Doesn’t surprise me,” Lavi smiled, taking a huge gulp of juice.  “The party life is only fun in the beginning.  After so many times it’s dull; just the same people, same drama, same music…  So what do you like to do to keep yourself entertained?”

“I love photography.  It’s the only thing I’ve really ever understood.”

“Really?  What do you like to take pictures of?”

“Anything that catches my eye really, but I love landscapes best of all.  Different light means a different mood and a completely different picture from hour to hour.”

“You’ll have to show me some pictures sometime then,” the redhead smiled as he scooped up their now empty plates.

“Sure!  I’d love to have someone else other than my dad look at them!  It would really broaden my views of what other people see from my point of view.  And thanks for whatever meal you consider this.”

“No problem,” he smiled as he then picked up the glasses and placed them in the sink atop the plates.  “Why don’t you go shower and come back here in an hour and we’ll go grocery shopping together for dinner.  You can pick out whatever you want me to make for dessert.”

At the mention of the word ‘dessert’, Allen’s eyes went slightly out of focus as he began piecing sweets together in his mind.


	3. Chapter 3

** Chapter 3 **

He checked his phone again and sighed as he placed it back in his pocket.  ‘He should’ve been back 10 minutes ago!’ he thought somewhat angrily as Lavi leaned against his door, watching the birds fly by.  Crossing his arms over his chest, he glanced to the door three feet from his own and leaned on his left foot to support him as he placed his right against the door a bit huffily.

As much as Lavi hated being woken up when it was still dark outside, he was always up when his alarm sounded and on time or early to any event or class.  So it really was starting to get to him when he couldn’t do something on time when he planned it.

Finally, three minutes after his last time check, he heard the door handle moving next to him and shifted his full weight to both his feet as he turned and glowered down slightly at the four inch shorter teen.

“I’m sorry,” Allen instantly winced as he noticed Lavi’s face.  “I had a hard time finding any seasonal clothes that fit me.  Over half my clothes are still boxed and stuffed in my closet.”

“And you call that ‘fitting’?” he inquired as he eyed the almost too tight shirt the younger one was wearing.

“It’s a little snug,” the silver haired teen admitted as he slung an olive green messenger bag over his shoulder, the little pins and iron on patches not going unnoticed to Lavi.

‘It suits him,’ Lavi mentally agreed with himself as he took to folding his arms behind his head and turning to walk, Allen falling in step awkwardly beside him, seeing as the walkway could barely handle two people walking side by side.  Once they reached the end of their floor, they headed down the stairs rather than taking the rickety elevator, Allen tripping on several steps but managing to rebalance himself almost as if second nature.  ‘And he’s a little clumsy…’

With his frustration mostly gone and his hands now tucked in his pants pockets, he deemed it appropriate to strike up a conversation.

“So what kind of landscapes do you like to take pictures of?”

Apparently drawn from his thoughts, Allen blinked rapidly a couple times and turned to face Lavi, making sure that he had in fact spoken to him.  “Sorry, what was that?”

Lavi repeated the question, to which Allen replied, “Mainly clouds when they aren’t normal, like at dusk when they’re different colors and right after a storm is breaking up.  Some of the places that I’ve lived had mountains, so I’d photograph them during different times and seasons.  But my favorite’s got to be water.  It was rare that we lived anywhere near a lake or the ocean, so I’ve only got a generic feel for them.”

The redhead made a noncommittal noise as he thought, returning his hands to the back of head.  He remembered that the park nearby had a pond, but it was usually covered in moss or infested with mosquitoes, so that was a no go.  And the closest lake was a few hours’ drive away.

“Maybe we could take a weekend sometime and go to the lake north of here.  It’s a little out there, but I remember it being peaceful during the summer when I camped there.”

“That would be amazing!  And maybe I could go fishing again!  I haven’t done that in ages!”

Lavi chuckled a bit.  “I’ve only been a few times and failed miserably.  All except the one time I never caught anything.”

“What did you catch that one time then?” Allen inquired as they turned a corner and began to cross the street.

“Dunno.  I turned my head for two seconds and my fishing pole was being dragged into the water by whatever had the hook.”

It was Allen’s turn to truly laugh as he envisioned this.

From then on the pair talked about all kinds of random things and crazy ideas until they reached the grocery store.  And both seemed to realize that they were already growing a strong bond; the distance they walked apart even seemed smaller as they stood side by side just inside the store.

“This place is huge compared to any super market I’ve been in!” the silver haired teen breather in awe as they walked further into the store.

“Meh, we’ve got an even bigger one uptown,” Lavi mused as he started eyeing the signs hanging above each isle.  “What even sounds good for diner?  I couldn’t really decide on anything…”

“No clue.  I’m kinda picky…” he said as he scrunched his nose slightly.

“Me too, so I guess we’ll just eye shop and whatever sounds good will go in the basket!” Lavi grinned as he leaned against the push bar on his recently acquired shopping cart.

“Sounds like a plan,” Allen agreed as they began pacing up and down the various isles.

“Some type of pasta maybe?” the olive eyed male offered as they passed several types of noodles in boxes.

“Nah, I’m not really in the mood for noodles.”  Again he crinkled his nose.

“Pizza?  Wait…no.  That’s not a good dinner unless you’re on the go.”

Allen suddenly stopped and Lavi had to quickly react so as to not hit the teen standing less than a foot in front of the cart.

“Breaded chicken breast in orange sauce!”

“Chicken in what?”

Allen then turned to Lavi with a stupid grin on his face.  “My mom used to make it when she was still alive, but that was when I was really young.”  He then proceeded to ramble off the ingredients to Lavi, who was still trying to take everything the other was saying into his mind.  “But I could never cook it.  I’m terrible at cooking even with the simplest directions, unless of course it’s microwavable.”

It then dawned on the redhead as he ran the ingredients over again in his head.  “You just like it because it’s sweet!”

“Maybe,” Allen shrugged innocently.  “So, will you make it?  Please?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Lavi replied passively, even as he tossed a few of the ingredients from that isle into the cart.  “I’ll have to have your expert supervision to make sure I’m doing everything right since I’ve never made it before.”

“This is going to be so great!” Allen cried out while doing a semi-fist pump as they wandered down some more isles, collecting the other various ingredients and random snack foods for when Allen came over to thaw out at his neighbor's home.

“What about dessert?”

“Peaches and cream pie!”

“Again with the fruit?” Lavi smiled as he noted that Allen apparently liked the flavor of certain fruits.  “First the orange and lemon for the chicken and now peaches?”

“I much prefer the taste of fruit to vegetables,” he grimaced, tossing a few cans of peaches into the cart.

They shuffled around the last of the store and emerged with too many bags for Lavi’s liking, seeing as they had walked there and each had at least three bags on each arm.

“I’m glad our apartment building isn’t too far away from the store,” the younger male commented, the bags digging relentlessly into his arms from their weight.

Lavi just smiled ruefully as they walked.  “You think you should be complaining?  Just think what I’d feel like if I had gone by myself!”

“I’m sure you wouldn’t have gotten as many things,” Allen pointed out, nodding to himself before completely disappearing from Lavi’s view.

“Well I could just let you starve to death at my place or let you freeze at…  Allen?”

Confused as to where his newly forming friend had vanished to, Lavi turned to see the teen stumbling to keep his balance yet again, though this time he nearly tripped over a box and into a streetlamp in the middle of the sidewalk.

Backtracking a few steps to where Allen was now leaning over said box, he glanced inside and instantly began walking away.

“You poor thing!” Allen cried out as he sat the bag aside and reached inside the box, pulling out a tiny calico kitten, snuggling it to his cheek and then cradling it to his chest.

“Forget it.”

“But Lavi…” the silver haired teen pouted adorably, looking almost as innocent as the kitten in his hands.

“I don’t care if you keep it, but it’s not coming to my place!” he said, his back still turned on Allen and the fleabag.

“But my dad’s allergic and it’s obviously going to rain today!”

“I said no!”

And that _should_ have been the end of that, but Lavi had lost, and horribly.  Not only did he now have an adorable female calico kitten to worry about, but also _all_ of the grocery bags, minus a light bag or two that Allen was still able to carry while holding the kitten to his chest.

“Now I’m going to have to make another trip to the store…” he growled as realization hit him that he would now have something other than himself to feed and clean up after.

“I’ll go!” Allen grinned as they reached the top step of their floor.  “If you keep her at your place, I’ll take care of buying everything she needs.”

Lavi could deal with that, he supposed anyway.  Even so, he still had to housebreak her.

Once they reached Lavi’s apartment door, the redhead all but let the bags roll off his arms and onto the walkway, his arms instantly feeling ten times lighter.  And no sooner than he had his door open, Allen had shimmied past him with the new kitten, grinning all the way inside.

Of course, Lavi didn’t expect the overly excited teen in his abode to help him carry in things, but rather than weigh himself down again, he settled for carrying a few bags at a time to his kitchen, placing them on the table.

“I hate you,” he then mumbled monotonously, as he plopped into one of his chairs, to Allen, or the kitten; whichever, if either, was paying attention.

“How can you say she’s not cute?” Allen grinned as he offered the kitten to Lavi.

Eyeing first the kitten, then the beautiful light gray eyes above it, he gingerly took her to his chest with a sigh.  Although he didn’t really want this new responsibility, he still let a small smile play across his lips as he rubbed a single finger gently over her head.  However, the smile only lasted briefly as her claws met his flesh in a kitty hug from the loving he was giving her.

“Allen,” the redhead finally spoke to the teen rummaging through the bags for a snack, setting the kitten gently on the titled floor.  “Write down what I need to do to get dinner cooking while you go get her some supplies.”

The silver haired teen began glancing around the room for a piece of paper, his mouth currently crammed full of a package of fruit snacks.

Lavi merely shook his head, almost laughing out loud at the sight, as he stood and grabbed a notebook and pencil from a drawer next to the stove.  “Here, sweet tooth.”

Allen grinned around his mouthful of sweets as he took the notebook and sat at the kitchen table, scribbling the recipe down as he chewed the sticky and gooey snack.

While the teen was occupying himself doing this, Lavi set to work putting the foodstuffs away, having to watch his step as the kitten kept sneaking under his feet and rubbing against his legs.

“Do you want me to take her with me while you cook?” Allen finally asked, standing and facing Lavi.

“Nah, she needs to get used to her new surroundings.  She can’t get into too much trouble in a short space of time, I’m sure.”

Allen squatted down and began stroking her head.  “Do you need anything else while I’m out?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Well, just in case…” the silver haired teen said as he suddenly stood, scaring the poor creature he had been petting, and began to scribble something else on the paper.  “Call me if you think of anything.”

And with that, the neighbor boy grabbed his olive green messenger bag, tossed it on his shoulder, and headed out the door.

“Just what am I going to do with you?” Lavi then inquired to the kitten, who was slowly and cautiously heading for the living room with her tail straight up in the air, pausing and looking around wildly if her ears picked up even the faintest of noises before continuing on her little adventure.

After everything was put away and the bags disposed of or stored, he ventured to the table and picked up the notebook, reading what Allen had written, or rather trying to decipher what he had written.  It was almost like he had his own written language…

About ten minutes had passed since the first chicken breast hit the skillet and Allen had returned, standing just inside the door way with a bag full of canned cat food and a food/water dish.  “I’m back!  How’s it coming along?” he asked as he set the bag aside and toed off his shoes before slinking to the kitchen.

“Not too bad,” Lavi replied as he focused on mixing the orange sauce before putting it on a burner.

With the way the kitchen was designed, what with the stove being against a wall on one side and the counter on the other bearing Lavi’s various cooking utensils and ingredients that was readily accessible, Allen had few options in the way of seeing this culinary creation coming to life.  And so, his main option came in the form of placing his hands on Lavi’s shoulders and hoisting himself up a few extra inches on his tiptoes to see his favorite meal being cooked.

Not at all expecting anything like this to happen, Lavi nearly lost his balance, teetering backwards slightly as the pressure had been applied to his shoulders before regaining himself, leaning back forward towards the stove.  ‘He’s as curious as that kitten.’

“So…?” Lavi intoned, turning his head just enough to see into one of those odd colored, beautiful eyes, their cheeks nearly touching.  “How does it look?”

“Amazing!” Allen smiled as he watched Lavi flip the chicken.

“You wanna start on that pie?”

“I told you, I’m no good at cooking.  But I can write down what you need to do…”

“Yeah, I don’t think so Mr. Chicken Scratch writer,” the redhead laughed as he stirred the orange sauce.  “You can walk me through it.”

Allen smiled sheepishly, gently planting himself back on the ground before turning and heading toward the living room.  “Yell for me when you’re ready.”

“Alright,” Lavi called idly as he tended the meal.

For several minutes, all you could hear throughout the apartment was the sound of sizzling chicken and the pitter-pat of Allen hunting the space for the kitten.

“Hey, Lavi?” Allen called in this ridiculously adorable and sickly sweet tone, like a child getting ready to sweet talk its mother.

“Yea?”

“Do you mind if I watch TV?”

“Go ahead,” he chuckled as he started on the second batch of chicken breast.

And then for a while, until dinner was nearly done, Lavi listened and Allen watch TV, the silver haired youth now curled up in Lavi’s blanket, beginning to nod off into a comfortable nap…

“Allen!”

Or so he thought he’d get to nap…

“Yea?” he called back, stifling a yawn.

“I’m ready to start the pie.”

In a drowsy, lazy manner, he unwrapped himself from the haven of the blanket, setting the kitten down on the floor before venturing back to the kitchen, breathing in deeply the smell of the delicious orange sauce.

Some ten minutes later, Allen had walked Lavi through the recipe and watched as the pie entered the belly of the oven.

“And now if you would,” Lavi began as he started turning off the burners and turning to get plates and silverware out for them, “go get your dad.”

Pulling himself away from the warm oven, Allen sped out the door and to his home, returning only moments later, seating himself at the table.  “He said he’d be over in about five minutes.”

“Let’s hope he’s not like you!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Allen feigned ignorance, pouting slightly though he was well aware of what Lavi was referring to: him being late that morning for their store rendezvous.

And yes, sadly Mana was as bad as his son at timing.

“It smells wonderful in here!” Mana smiled as he was escorted inside by his son some ten minutes later, sitting at the table and eyeing the food before him.  “Allen talked you into making this, didn’t he?”

Lavi laughed as he poured them some drinks, seating himself beside Allen.  “How’d ya know?”

For a good 15-20 minutes, they talked and laughed, Mana thanking Lavi profusely for inviting them over and for watching over his son all day, saying that it was now time for him to go to bed and was entirely too full to even think about dessert.

“So now what?” Lavi inquired as he hit ignore on his phone for the fifth time in an hour and set the dishes in the sink.

“Pie!”  Allen grinned as he fetched it from the fridge and set it on the counter, soon after opening a can of food for the kitten.  “And should you be ignoring all those calls?”

“Just some of the people I go to school with wanting me to come party.”

“If you want to go, I’ll go home!” Allen said as he took his piece of pie from Lavi.

“I’m tired of partying with the same people all the time.  I’d like to stay sober tonight and enjoy your company.”

He wasn’t entirely sure, but he thought he seen the faintest of blushes across Allen’s cheeks as they left the lighted kitchen to the dark living room, sitting on the couch and finding something to watch.

“This is amazing too,” the younger one manage between bites of his dessert.  “You weren’t kidding when you said you could make sweets!”

“I can teach you sometime,” Lavi offered offhandedly, enjoying this dessert entirely too much himself.

“Really?!”

“Sure, it’s not that hard.”

Hesitating for the briefest of moments, having set him empty plate aside, Allen scooted closer to Lavi before wrapping his arms around him.  Almost instantly, Lavi’s cheeks, if not his whole face, erupted into a blush at the second unexpected contact from Allen tonight.

“No one’s ever offered to teach me to cook before!” he admitted before releasing Lavi from his brief embrace, blushing himself as he focused back to the TV.

“So, um…” Lavi offered a few awkward silence moments later, “What are you going to name her?”

“I don’t know yet.  I’m sure I’ll think of something by tomorrow though.”

Why was it suddenly so difficult to strike up a conversation?

“What time do you need to go to bed, or rather, when do you want me to go home?”

“I won’t go to bed for another couple hours, so you can stick around till then if you want.  I have classes tomorrow, so I better not hear a no purpose alarm clock going off at o’ dark thirty!” he said with a playful glare.

“I’m going to be _so_ bored tomorrow then!” Allen pouted.  “Since you’re going to class and dad starts work tomorrow, I won’t have anything to do other than unpack in that igloo I have to call home!”

As a tuft of soft and slightly tickly fur slid over his foot, Lavi stood, startling Allen, and walked down the hall toward his room, returning moments later.

“What’s that for?” Allen asked as a key dangled in front of his eyes on a piece of thread.

“It’s the spare key to my place.”

“And you’re showing it to me because…?”

With a rather irritated sigh at the supposed genius’ ignorance, Lavi grasped one of the silver haired teen’s slightly cold hands and placed the key in it.  “I’m trusting you, okay?”

“I’m confused.”

With a snort and shake of the head, a smirk tugging his lips as he settled back on the couch, he said, “I’m giving it to you so when you get bored tomorrow, you can thaw out over here and watch TV.  And,” he cut off, pointing to the fluff ball now resting its adorable head on Allen’s foot, “so you can clean up any messes she makes.  She is _yours_ after all.”

“Are you sure, Lavi?” the teen asked as he looked from the key in his palm to the redhead, their eyes locking in a searching gaze.

“Yes, I’m sure.  I know I can trust you, Allen,” he smiled at him, to which he received a rather shy smile.

“Thank you.”

“Yeah, yeah, just watch TV already,” the redhead grinned as he ruffled Allen’s silky hair.

And so the pair spent the next few hours watching various TV shows and snippets of movies until Allen began to nod off repeatedly, deeming it time for bed.

Lavi shuffled to the door behind Allen and opened it, watching as Allen’s hand lingered on his own door.

“It means a lot to me that you can trust me this much, Lavi,” he said as he looked from his gently swaying keys in the door to the redhead, his eyes seeming hesitant in meeting those olive colored ones watching his every move.  “Goodnight.”

“Night,” Lavi smiled before Allen disappeared into his apartment and he back into his own.


	4. Chapter 4

** Chapter 4 **

Mondays…Yes, that most heinous of days had rolled around yet again, rearing its ugly head as Lavi resisted the urge to smash his alarm clock to pieces with his fist when it began blaring at 11 a.m.  He was entirely too comfortable to even have the slightest urge to uncover himself and sit up.  But as he did begin his initial ascent into a sitting position, he noticed his left hand was sunk deeper into the mattress and against something pleasantly warm.

Glancing to that side of his bed, he couldn’t help but let a small smile grace his lips as he hesitantly ran a hand through the silver locks that were peeking from beneath the covers.

After another look to his clock, he reluctantly decided that he should begin his routine.  And so he gently climbed out from his covers and off his bed before heading to the bathroom with his school clothes in hand.

Some fifteen minutes later, he quietly emerged from the bathroom, toweling his hair dry and walking to Allen’s side of the bed, noting that the kitten was now curled against Allen’s stomach.

“Allen,” the redhead gently called as he shook the teen by his shoulder.  “Allen…”

The teen groaned and tried to roll over, but the small nails of the kitten dug threateningly through the blanket as he started to lean his weight sideways, his grey eyes barely peeking through his lids during this process until his sleep muddled mind registered the red hair above him.

“Lavi!” he breathed, eyes now wide as he sat up completely against the headboard, the kitten scampering off and away from him.  “I’m sorry!  I just couldn’t…”

“Its fine,” Lavi grinned, ruffling Allen’s hair as he fought for words to explain himself that weren’t forming on his lips.  “If I didn’t want you in my bed, I’d have pushed you off it when I woke up.”

Closing his mouth, seeing as he didn’t need to argue his case, he covered his face with his hands to hide his embarrassed blush.  “Don’t you think it’s weird for me to be climbing into your bed like this?”

“Well, yeah, it is a little weird, but like I said, its fine.  And if _you_ think it’s so weird, why’d you do it in the first place?”

Again at a loss for words, Allen shook his head and lowered his hands.  “I have no clue.”

Not wanting to embarrass the poor teen any more, he opted to change the subject.  “I’m heading off to class in a few minutes, so keep a good eye on her,” Lavi said as he ran a finger over her head, the kitten arching her neck into it to get a better rub while she again nestled on Allen’s blanket.  “I should be home no later than five tonight, so pull something out for dinner for us.”

Allen simply nodded, subconsciously sliding back down to a lying position.

With another smile, Lavi again ruffled Allen’s hair before heading out.

Some odd hours later, thanks to the sun beaming through the slits in the blinds and directly into his eyes, Allen awoke in a slightly familiar bedroom with a kitten curled on his chest, her head resting on his hand that also lay there, and at a rather comfortable temperature to boot.

‘Did I really end up in Lavi’s bed again?’ he mused as he drowsily blinked, lazily bringing his free hand to his eyes, yawning and rubbing the sleep from his eyelashes.

He sat there in a comfortable daze for a few minutes before the kitten mewled cutely up at him and began to give him kitty hugs on her ‘pillow’ of Allen’s hand.

“I suppose you’re hungry,” he smiled as he scooped her up against his chest and clambered out of the bed, heading towards the kitchen.

Once at his destination, Allen opened a small can of food and set it down in front of the kitten before he sat himself down at the kitchen table, watching her idly with his cheek in the palm of his hand.  All the while he watched her eat, he pondered on the idea of what sounded good for dinner, mentally rummaging the cabinets and fridge that had just been stocked the night before.

Even after the kitten had finished eating and wandered off somewhere into the living room, Allen still sat and thought, but he couldn’t think of a single thing other than how boring it was without his new friend home.

“Oh, no,” the teen finally groaned as a not so pleasant smell wafted to his nose.  With a sigh, he stood from the table, nearly tripping over it as he set off to find the present the little one had just left for him.

He sighed yet again moments after he had gathered his cleaning supplies (i.e. paper towels and some carpet cleaner) and found his way to his knees, picking and scrubbing the mess away.  All the while he was doing this the kitten rubbed against his ankles lovingly without the slightest hint of fear or acknowledgement of the anger directed at her.

“It’s my fault though…I didn’t get you a litter box yet,” he grunted as he stood, heading to the nearest trash can.

After that ordeal, and not yet awake enough to leave to get her the rest of her things, like the litter box, Allen decided to curl up on the couch with his kitten and watch some TV.

And no sooner than the TV had been turned on did Lavi pass the window on his way to the door.

‘What time is it?!’ the teen mentally yelped as he looked around frantically for a clock as he heard the door handle begin to turn.  But to no avail; he found no clock in the living room, save for the VCR/DVD player blinking 12:00.

Nearly throwing the kitten from his lap, he dashed to the kitchen and opened the fridge just as the door creaked open, and Lavi couldn’t suppress a rather lecherous grin at the view of Allen’s bottom sticking out from behind the door.

“Lavi!” he feigned surprise as he stood upright, a stalk of celery in his hand.  “You’re home early!”  Thankfully the clock next to the fridge on the microwave proved useful.

“Yeah, the teacher was sick, so everyone decided to ditch class since a sub never showed,” he replied as he sat his backpack down on one of the chairs.  “Decided on dinner yet?”

“No…I’ve not been hungry today, so nothing sounds good yet,” Allen admitted as he placed the celery back in its place and shut the fridge.

“How’d she do today?” the redhead asked idly as he pulled a couple books from his bag.

“Just one big mess today that I know of.  I’m going to the pet shop again in a bit to get her a litter box and some toys.”

Lavi then set himself down, thumbing through one of the books with a slight frown in place.  “I hate school.”

“Tell me about it,” the silver haired teen agreed as he then began to randomly open and close cabinets in hope that some idea of dinner would come to him as he eyed the various boxes and cans.  “Oh, and I’ve decided on a name.”

“And what’s that?”

“Miya,” he said simply as he closed the last cabinet, still empty handed.

Lavi let the name run through his head a few times and nodded in approval.  “I like it.”

“You’re not going to like this though; I still can’t think of anything for dinner.  So it’s up to you I guess.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Lavi grunted as he shut the book, set it aside, and picked up the other.

“I’m going to go home and change then go to the pet store now,” he said as he walked past Lavi’s chair, grabbing his bag from beside the couch, and vanished out the front door.

Some minutes later, Lavi having set to work on his essay, Miya began to rub against his legs under the table, annoying the concentrating youth to no end.  “Go on, would ya?!”

Indignantly, she stuck her tail in the air, gave him what appeared to be a dirty look, and scampered out of the kitchen and down the hall.

With an irritated sigh, he dropped his pencil to his notebook and stood.  This morning he had, in fact, felt like cooking, but now with the two essays and his algebra homework to do, he didn’t feel like doing much of anything other than maybe sleeping, and if Allen wanted to join him…

“Stop it, Lavi,” he scolded himself as his mind settled on frozen pizza for dinner.

After preheating the oven and tossing the pre-packaged goodness onto a pizza pan and into the oven, he turned back to his backpack.  He had a week to work on the essays, but the algebra homework was due in two days…And he was terrible at it.

Tossing the book hatefully onto the table, he turned the page in his notebook and found the chapter with the set of problems he needed to do.  And he stared…and stared…and glared at the random numbers and letters with the eraser end of the pencil in his mouth.  Why couldn’t math be like the old days, you know 2 plus 2 equals fish? (Fairly Odd Parents reference :P)

“Damnit!” he spat as he again let the pencil fall to the table.  “I hate this shit!”

“Like you have room to talk!” came a venomous voice from the front door.

“Allen?” Lavi called, confused seeing as he surely hadn’t had enough time to get there and back at a leisurely pace.  “Did you run there and back?” he asked as he stood leaning against his kitchen archway.

To this, Allen glared darkly at him, raising a dripping wet arm to point out the window.

It took some odd seconds, maybe even minutes, for Lavi to look from Allen, to the window, back to Allen’s wet hair and clothes, back to the window where water was falling heavily from the sky, back to the puddle now forming at Allen’s feet, back to the lightning flashing through the sky, and finally back to Allen before his overloaded mind finally comprehended that it was, in fact, storming outside and the teen had got caught in the downpour.

“You know,” the redhead began as he stood upright and ventured back into his kitchen to his little washer/dryer closet, where he pulled a couple of fluffy towels from the dryer before returning to the living room.  “If you would’ve just told me it was raining rather than pointing and glaring at me like I knew what was going on, I would’ve understood a little bit faster.”

Lavi then tossed one of the towels over Allen’s silver hair and proceeded to gently dry the water away while Allen fought to remove the plastered and slightly too small two-tone blue shirt from his body, and failed miserably as the material was too small and wet to move higher than his shoulder blades by himself, unless he wanted to dislocate a shoulder to get it off.

Noticing the futile struggle the shorter one was having, he stopped mopping at the teen’s hair, tossing the towel over his shoulder before he grabbed the bunched up material at the other’s lower shoulder blades and tugged it over Allen’s head, his fingers grazing Allen’s cold and damp skin as he did so.

Once the article of clothing in question was removed and set aside, he noted than the silver haired teen looked slightly flushed, his eyes cast down and his arms wrapped gently over his naked chest.  Though whether it was caused by the cold of the rain or from Lavi’s gentle, unintentional caress, he wasn’t sure.

“You’re cold,” Lavi mumbled as he draped the second, dry towel over Allen’s shoulders.

“Well, the rain is kinda cold and you just left me standing here to catch pneumonia while your tiny little brain tried to process the weather,” the teen then teased, still not look into Lavi’s face, as he took hold of the towel around him.

“And you could’ve just as easily opened your own door and gotten a towel and dry clothes,” Lavi pointed out with a smug smile.

To this he received a blank look.

“What?” he inquired as noncommittally as he could, knowing what the other was most likely going to say.

“What about Mana the polar bear and cold rain do you not comprehend?” Allen smirked in return.  If it had in fact been so simple, Allen would have gone home first and taken care of this situation himself, but considering the fact that it was likely in the lower 40s next door, he would’ve frozen into an Allen statue of ice before he even reached his room.

Somewhat pitying the teen shivering slightly before him, he thought about offering to run next door and get him some dry clothes himself, but the wind was blowing towards his door and window, and the rain was still none too light.  “Let me see what I have that might fit you.”

The redhead the disappeared down the hall with his own creeping blush as Allen began to unzip and pull down his drenched jeans.  Thankfully, when Lavi had returned to his side, he had the towel wrapped around his waist.  “I know they’ll be a little big on you,” Lavi pointed out as Allen took them, holding them to his chest as he scampered down the hall, mumbling a thank you.

Now that that little dilemma was out of the way, Lavi returned to the kitchen to check on the pizza, which wasn’t quite done yet, and then turned to his most hated rival lying innocently on the table where he had left it.  As he began to scribble down a problem from the book, Miya again returned to love on his ankles.

“You’re not getting any food yet, pig.  You can wait until we eat.”

“That’s not very nice,” Allen mocked him as he stood at the end of the table, having somehow managed to sneak in, with his hands, or rather where his hands should have been seeing as the hoodie he was now wearing was too long in the sleeves, on his hips.  “Are you actually this big or do you get clothes that are just baggy on you?”

The pajama bottoms Lavi had given him had a drawstring so he could at least keep them on his hips while he had to roll up the bottom of them to keep from tripping.

“Oh, okay.  So you want to indiscreetly call me fat,” Lavi nodded with a smirk of his own as he looked over the teen, the pencil’s eraser again in his mouth, though he bit a little hard than he would have normally…If only those loose clothes would just slip off…

“If the shoe fits,” Allen shrugged as he plopped down at the table across from Lavi.

“I don’t understand how someone can look so cute and innocent sleeping in my bed and prancing around in my clothes looking adorable could have such a vulgar mouth.  See if you get any more of that pie tonight…”

Right on cue, Allen’s silver eyes looked pathetically sad and a pout formed on his lips in retaliation.  “But Lavi…”

And it didn’t take long for either of them to break into laughter before Lavi checked the oven again, deeming dinner to be ready.

“I thought you said pizza was cheating.”

“I felt like cheating since you didn’t pick anything out,” was the response as the older male began to cut the pizza into slices.

“Okay, so you win that round,” the teen dramatically sighed as he reached across the table and turned Lavi’s book towards him.  “You’re taking algebra?  Shouldn’t you be taking something a little more advanced?”

“So now you’re calling me stupid,” Lavi snapped back sarcastically as he put the pizza on two plates.  “Yeah, I probably should be, but I’ve never really gotten the hang of math.”

“You want some help?” Allen asked as Lavi set their dinner down on the table.

“Could you?” Lavi almost pleaded as he sat back down.  “I’ll give you some more pie if you do!  I’ll even feed it to you!”

Though his eyes already told his answer, he glanced around the room as though in thought before nodding.  “I’ll accept.”

Once dinner was eaten and Miya fed, the pair sat side by side at the table as Allen walked Lavi through each step for each problem until he could do simple ones on his own.  “How in the world do you pass your tests?”

“Beats me,” Lavi sighed, stifling a yawn.

With only a few problems to go, and his eyes growing increasingly heavier with each pencil stroke, he finally closed his book, noting the extra weight on his shoulder and the silence that surrounded him.  “Allen!” he whined pathetically; he was too tired to even think about carrying the teen anywhere, but if he moved and did nothing, Allen would surely fall to the floor.  He then glanced to his clock which read 11:34.  “You should be at home in bed…”

“I don wannagohome…” he mumble almost unintelligibly as he sat up.  “Don wanna move.”

“Well, I don’t think your dad will approve of you staying the night, let alone being over here this late.”

“He doesn’t care.  He knows I’m safe with you,” he yawned and stretched, still fighting off the sleep.

It was still raining outside, but the lightning had since stopped.  So with a sigh, he scooped Allen up into his arms, who curled up tightly against him, wrapping his arms about Lavi’s neck.  The red head then managed to turn off the kitchen light and find his way to his room in the darkened apartment without bumping Allen into anything.

‘He’s going to end up here anyway,’ Lavi mused as he laid the teen down on the bed before stripping down to his boxers and crawled into the bed, tossing the blanket over them both.  While he set his alarm for the next day, he felt Allen roll towards him, and as he lay down and adjusted his pillows, he felt an arm lazily snake across his stomach.  Watching the teen sleep, he let his mind wander as he subconsciously rested his hand on Allen’s arm, thinking of how much he missed human interaction.


	5. Chapter 5

** Chapter 5 **

The days and weeks flew by, Allen’s birthday soon approaching, and the pair of friends and their kitten merely rolled with the punches, that being Allen helping Lavi three times a week with algebra and Lavi cooking whatever Allen dreamed up that day.

On the Wednesday before Allen’s birthday (his birthday would have fallen on Friday the 13th in 2007 when this was originally published) on his way home from class, he decided to stop by a couple stores downtown in hopes of finding _something_ that the teen would be interested in.  Allen hadn’t really dropped any hints as to wanting anything at all and the redhead really had no clue what else Allen really liked other than taking pictures.

‘Maybe a scrapbook or photo album?’ he mused as he walked up and down some isles in a camera shop.  ‘Nah, too boring…something flashier, maybe?’  You could almost see the light bulb turn on over Lavi’s head as something clicked.

Quickly pulling out his cell phone, he called Mana, yes Mana, not Allen.  It would totally give his new found brilliant idea away if he called the silver haired teen.

“Hey, Mana, it’s Lavi!” he chirped as he leaned over a clear display case near the front of the store.  “I was wondering if you knew what type of lenses Allen has for his camera.”

“Last I knew he only had the one that came with it and a small zoom lens.  I don’t pay much attention to his camera.  Why do you ask?”

“I was thinking about getting him a new one for his birthday.  I don’t know what else to get him unless you have any suggestions.”

“Lavi, please don’t.  Those things are so expensive!”

“It’s fine, really.  He’s been an awesome friend, and I know he’ll put it to good use.”

Uncomfortable with the idea, mainly because of the price and the two only having known each other for a short time, Mana let it go.  “I know he’d love it, just don’t spend too much money on him; I mean, you already buy half of his food!”

Lavi chuckled.  “As long as I know he’ll take care of it, I have no problem with price.  Who knows, maybe one day you’ll thank me when he becomes a famous photographer.”

“Maybe,” Mana replied, excusing himself to get back to work.

xxx

‘I hope he’s not in the house,’ Lavi thought as he walked towards his door.  ‘I don’t think I could distract him and try to hide the bag at the same time.’

Thankfully, however, Allen was out cold, sitting upright on the couch, wrapped in his blanket with the TV on.  As quietly as he could, he shut the front door and tiptoed down the hall to his room where he tucked the present away on the shelf in his closet.  Lavi thought it the best place in the back since he had to stretch himself a bit just to see up there himself, so he was sure Allen wouldn’t be able to see up there at all without something to stand on.  Just as a precaution, however, he slid the closet door shut.

With the gift out of mind, he edged back down the hall, noting that Allen was now fully laid down, his head nearly hanging off the side of the couch, mumbling something with his eyebrows furrowed slightly.  Lavi merely smiled at the sight before sneaking into the kitchen.

‘He must’ve been out for a while today,’ Lavi thought, seeing as there was nothing laid out for dinner by Allen.  So he pulled this and that out of cabinets and the fridge and began to cook as quietly as he could.  ‘I wonder if he’s feeling any better?’

Allen hadn’t slept so well the night before, tossing and turning and generally thrashing about in bed with a fever, much to Lavi’s dismay.  And seeing as he had shared the bed with Lavi, the redhead also got minimal sleep, and so decided that birthday gift shopping was more important than attending all his classes, since he could just go shopping then come home and nap…At least that was the idea.

Once everything was thrown together in the beginnings of a delicious meal of homemade chicken pot pie, Lavi headed back to the living room and got to his knees beside the couch, placing a gentle hand on Allen’s forehead.

The teen flinched slightly as the cold hand touched him, though he didn’t wake.  In fact, the hand felt nice against his burning hot flesh, and so he nuzzled into.

‘Yep, still got a fever,’ Lavi frowned, lifting his hand away, to which Allen instantly starting pouting and moving about.  ‘Guess I should’ve left my hand there longer…’  No sooner than his other hand, colder to the touch than the previous one since it just left Allen’s warm forehead, touched the other’s skin, Allen stopped moving and relaxed into the cold.  Slowly trailing his hand down to one of Allen’s cheeks, the boy turned his head into it, trapping it between the couch and his cheek.  From there he ghosted his thumb over Allen’s nose to the teen’s lips, gently caressing the slightly parted flesh.  The silver haired teen began to mumble again for a moment.  Amused, Lavi ran his thumb over his lips again, from one side to the other rather than straight down to chin like before.  And again Allen mumbled.

Something in the back of Lavi’s mind was yelling at him with all its might, but he wasn’t paying attention to it; he was focused on the innocent and flushed face of Allen Walker.  As his mind yelled at him to stop, though he still didn’t hear it, he leaned down and pressed his lips to Allen’s in a soft, chaste kiss.

No sooner than he parted their lips, he had realized what his mind had been yelling at him, and quickly stood and stormed to the kitchen, completely flustered.  ‘What was I thinking?’

Allen, who groaned at the loss of the cold hand, rolled over to face the back of the couch, pulling the blanket up under his chin.

Lavi had seated himself at the table, eyes wide as his mind spun from what had just happened.  He had never chased after a friend before; he was always the one pursued by older men that he barely knew, not much older mind you, just a couple years older.  He had never gotten this worked up about anyone before either, other than his ex that stomped on his heart and emotions.

‘Allen’s younger and looks so innocent and vulnerable, from a relationship point of view.  I doubt he’s ever dated anyone, let alone kissed anyone.  And I know from his inexperience that he most likely wouldn’t be the dominant type…’

As he sat mulling over these thoughts of Allen and past relationships, one silver haired teen appeared in the kitchen archway, leaning against the frame with a hand over his stomach, cheeks brightly flushed, eyes barely open, and his breath coming in pained pants from his parted lips.

“Allen!  Why aren’t you resting some more?” Lavi yelped at noticing his condition, jumping from his chair as Allen’s head dipped like he had fallen asleep standing before he up-righted himself and fell forward into Lavi.  “You’re still burning up!”

Leaning harder still into Lavi’s chest with his forehead, he swallowed hard, trying to wet his dry dehydrated mouth.  “The medicine’s not working.”

Lavi wasn’t going to have this.  Allen wasn’t going to stand there and suffer; he was going back to bed this instant and taking more medicine, even if he had to go to the store to get something else.  He couldn’t stand seeing the teen in this state.

Scooping the now shivering Allen into his arms, Lavi whisked him down the hall to the bedroom, where he promptly tucked him in.  He then quickly retrieved a bowl with cold water and a washcloth, returning to Allen’s side.

During his short trip through the apartment to get these things, Allen had kicked the blankets off.

“I know you think you’re burning to death, but you’re body’s as cold as ice,” he admonished the teen as he dipped the cloth into the water, wringing it out and folding it to place on the boy’s forehead.  “You need to stay under the covers and relax.  Does your dad know you’re here?”

Allen nodded slightly, reveling in the cool water on his skin, a few droplets escaping the cloth and rolling slowly down his temples.

“Does he know you’re ill?”

To this, Allen shook his head lazily, his eyes drooping shut as Lavi pulled his cell phone from his pocket.

“Mana, sorry to bug you again, but Allen’s been running a fever since last night and it’s not gone down.”

“Has he taken anything for it?  He’s stubborn when it comes to taking medicine.”

“Really?  I’ve not had any trouble with him.  I gave him some fever reducer this morning and before I left in the afternoon.  But I’m pretty sure he’s thrown it all up.”

To this, the silver haired teen smiled somewhat sheepishly while holding up three fingers from beneath the blanket.

“Scratch that; I’m positive now that he’s thrown it up.  I’ll give him some toast and more meds in a bit and hope he can keep them down.  I just wanted to let you know what’s going on.”

“Thank you for that.  I won’t be home until late tonight, so do you mind watching over him until I get home?”

“I don’t mind keeping him all night so that you can rest!  I don’t have class tomorrow, so it’s no problem for me.”

“I really appreciate it, Lavi, but if it gets to where you can’ handle it, either bring him home tonight or take him to the emergency room or something.  I don’t want you to stress out over him.”

“We’ll be fine,” Lavi soothed as he sat on the edge of the bed, smiling down at Allen.

“Well, thanks again, Lavi.”

After their goodbyes, Lavi stretched and placed his phone on the nightstand, his hand coming to rest on Allen’s warm cheek shortly after.  “You gonna make it?”

The teen smiled weakly, placing his own cold hand on Lavi’s.  He and Lavi stayed like that until Allen fell asleep a few minutes later, Lavi gently removing his hand and placing the teen’s back under the blanket before returning to the kitchen.

‘Considering the fact that’s he’s already thrown up as much as he has today, I don’t think he can handle this until tomorrow,’ Lavi mused as he looked down at the steaming and delicious pan of food now resting on the stovetop.  He made himself a bowl of the pot pie before placing the rest in the fridge for the following day.

While he ate, he couldn’t help but realize how touchy he had been with Allen so far today, though Allen showed no sign of protest.  But it bothered him slightly that he had come to find himself drawn to the younger teen.

With a sigh and a full belly pat, Lavi placed his bowl in the sink and made a slice of toast for Allen, returning to his bedroom a few minutes later with a cooled down piece of toast and some medication.

As he entered his room, he couldn’t help but stare longingly at Allen, who was now curled up on his side with the rag hanging half way on his forehead and halfway on the pillow.

‘There’s no point in really fighting it.  I know I’m attracted to him, even if he is younger.  But I just don’t know how he’ll react.  He’s the only real friend I have…’

He didn’t want to wake the youth, but he knew that if he could get the toast and meds in him quickly and then if he went right back to sleep, he’d have a better chance of him not throwing it back up.  So he reluctantly set the medicine on the nightstand and began to rock Allen awake.

“Sit up and eat this,” he whispered so as not to startle the waking teen, seating himself again on the bed, watching as Allen struggled to obey.  “Just take small bites though; I don’t want you getting sick again.”

Placing the washcloth in the bowl of water, Allen took the toast and nibbled on it while Lavi went to get him something to wash it down with.

Upon his return, Lavi shook a couple pills from the bottle, pressing them into Allen’s hand and taking the uneaten half of the toast, handing him a glass of milk to help him swallow the pills.  “Drink slowly,” Lavi warned as the cup met his lips.

Allen did as he was told before handing the glass back to Lavi who instructed him to finish the toast and try and get back to sleep.

Lavi shifted to stand, but stopped as an ice cold hand wrapped around his arm.

“Come to bed with me, please?” Allen pleaded, his head lulling to the side.

“Yeah, sure,” Lavi smiled, ruffling the silver hair.  “But I have to dump this first,” he said, lifting the glass of unfinished milk.

Lavi made quick work of dumping the milk and returning to the bedroom, where he changed into a pair of PJ bottoms, and crawled in bed.  No sooner than the blanket was over him, Allen had curled up against his side, the redhead wincing slightly against his hot forehead and the icy coldness of the rest of his exposed body.  But he quickly adjusted to the temperature difference and began to nod off while he ran a hand repeatedly through Allen’s hair.

No sooner than he had drifted off, Allen shifted again, coming to rest his head on Lavi’s chest while and arm wrapped around him.

With a gentle kiss to the teen’s forehead, wrapping his own arm around Allen, he whispered, “Sleep well, Allen.”


	6. Chapter 6

** Chapter 6 **

It had been a few hours since the pair had fallen asleep in each other’s embrace, and Lavi was sleeping rather well until Allen shot upright in bed, flinging his arm against the headboard in the process, and dashed off the bed and to the bathroom.

‘Great...Here we go again…’ Lavi sighed as the bathroom light came on and the sound of dry heaves filled his room moments later.

Pushing the blanket off his body, Lavi slowly eased out of bed, slightly off balance from only being half awake, and headed to his bathroom, finding Allen on his knees in front of the porcelain god, his eyes glazed over and his breathing coming in pants with an occasional dry heave as he leaned quickly back over the toilet.

Lavi kneeled down beside him, running a hand up and down the teen’s sweat dampened back.  “Feel better?”

Allen turned his flushed face to the redhead, shaking his head slightly as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Are you at least done for now?”

The silver haired teen moved to stand, wobbling slightly and his eyes going cross for a moment, having stood too fast.  Lavi then stood too and wrapped an arm around Allen’s back and helped him to the sink so he could rinse his mouth and wash his hands.  Once that was done, Lavi tucked Allen back in bed and returned to the bathroom to flush the toilet and turn out the light.

Lavi sat down beside the sick teen, rewetting the cold washcloth and placing it on Allen’s sweaty forehead.  “Sorry that you feel so shitty,” Lavi smiled sympathetically as he brushed Allen’s bangs from his face.

“Sorry you have to baby me like this,” was the sleepy response as Allen smiled tiredly up at him.  “I don’t usually get sick, but when I do, all hell breaks loose.”

“No kidding.”

Allen yawned, snuggling deeper into the mattress before looking worriedly at Lavi.  “Did you feed Miya today?”

“Uh…” the redhead began, averting his gaze and scratching his cheek.  “Now that you mention it, no.”

“Lavi!” the teen whined in disbelief.  Apparently upchucking made him feel better than he realized.

“Actually, I haven’t seen the runt all day.”

“You don’t think she got outside, do you?” Allen gasped as he sat up much too fast, landing his back against the headboard rather harshly as his body fought gravity.

“It’s a slim chance, but possible,” Lavi sighed.

“Could you please look for her, Lavi?” the teen pleaded as he held the washcloth to his forehead.

Lavi didn’t really want to leave Allen’s side, but that face was simply too adorable to deny, what with that pout and flushed cheeks.  With that face, Allen could’ve asked him for something completely outrageous, like a waterbed fish tank, and Lavi would’ve left right then and there to get him one.

With a sigh, he hoisted himself off the mattress and headed down the hall, flicking on various lights and checking under and behind furniture.  He had even checked the living room, kitchen, and laundry closet twice over before checking the bathroom, but not sign of her.

As he flicked off the bathroom light and entered his bedroom, running a hand through his slightly mused hair he prepared himself for the inevitable tears the Allen would surely shed.  But in a vain attempt to reassure him, he said, “I haven’t checked this room yet.”

Turning on his bedside lamp, he peered under the bed and beside and behind the nightstands.  Still nothing.  He even checked under his beanbag chair that sat abandoned in the corner of the room.

Lavi could see Allen’s face starting to tighten and tears welling up in the corners of his eyes as he turned to face the room’s other occupant.  “Please don’t cry,” the redhead begged as he sat next to Allen, pulling the teen to his chest and tossing the washcloth aside.  Allen was more than happy to return the embrace as he tightly wrapped his arms around Lavi’s waist, nuzzling his cheek against his chest.

“I have no clue where she could’ve gotten to.”

“Are you sure you’ve checked everywhere?” Allen sniffed as he pulled his head up to look the redhead in the eye.

Lavi simply nodded, staring deeply into those pale gray eyes.

“Liar.”

“I’m not lying, Allen.  I’ve check everything twice at least!”

A small smile flitted across Allen’s lips as he licked a tear away from his upper lip.  “There’s at least one place I didn’t see you look.”

“Where?” Lavi asked rebelliously, to which Allen lifted his arm and pointed to the closed closet door.  “Like she would possibly be in there…” he mumbled as he reluctantly released the silver haired teen and went to his closet, wrenching one of the sliding doors to the side, glaring down as Miya came prancing out with a piece of torn paper in her mouth.

“You little shit!” Lavi growled as he took in the sight of a rather nasty mess she had made, that being torn and shredded paper and boxes along with a pile or two from not being able to get to her litter box.

Of course, she paid him no mind as she simply jumped onto the bed, rubbing against the sickly Allen.

“Just close the door; I’ll clean it up in the morning,” Allen pleaded in an attempt to calm Lavi down.  “What matters right now is that our little one is safe, right?  And you need to get back to sleep so you’re not so grumpy tomorrow…”

“I’m not going near that bed until she’s out of this room,” Lavi huffed, crossing his arms over his chest as their eyes locked.

“Don’t be so childish,” Allen laughed as he cradled Miya against his chest.

The redhead didn’t budge from his spot, giving Allen a withering look.

“Fine!” Allen sighed as he got off the bed, wobbling a bit.

“Where are _you_ going?” Lavi then inquired as the teen stalked past him down the hall.

“To feed her,” Allen stated simply over his shoulder.

‘I _knew_ I shouldn’t have given in when he wanted to keep her…’ he thought with a sigh as he finally uncrossed his arms and closed the closet door.  ‘Our little one…’

Within minutes, Lavi had returned to the haven of his bed, buried under his blanket, facing away from Allen’s side of the bed and clicking off his lamp.  It was just as the light clicked out that Allen reentered the room, shutting the door and leaning back against it.

“What’s wrong?”

The teen’s gray eyes were locked to the floor.  “Maybe I should sleep in my own room tonight.”

“What brought this on?”  Lavi laughed somewhat as he sat up, wishing the teen would look at him.  “I know you’re upset about what just happened and all, and I’m sorry I reacted that way!  I really am!  It’s just been a rough day and I didn’t mean to take it out on you.”

“It’s…it’s not right for me to be taking advantage of you like this.  I should only be here when you invite me over instead of coming over when I please.  I know that when you have friends over you’re not going to want a young kid like me hanging around,” Allen sniffed.  “I’ve had a lot of time to think today while you were out.  And the biggest reason is,” he began, swallowing the lump in his throat, his watery eyes hesitantly meeting Lavi’s worried olive ones.  “We’re two young _male_ adults sharing a bed.  That’s not normal; even I know that much from being homeschooled.”

Inside, Lavi felt like he had just been stabbed and had the knife twisted before it was ripped out, but he tried not to let it show.

“If that’s the way you feel, then okay; I can’t control your life, so do what makes you happy,” the red head shrugged, trying to sound indifferent despite his pain.  He didn’t want to trap Allen or make him feel uncomfortable.  “I’ve told you before that I don’t mind you being in my bed with me.  So what brought this on so suddenly after weeks of sleeping in here together?”

He couldn’t lie to Lavi, but he didn’t want to tell him either; running would just make it more awkward and hard for himself.  But deep down, he knew he had to tell Lavi the truth.

Slowly pushing himself away from the door and walking to the bed, he crawled to the middle of it and stared Lavi squarely in the eyes, completely and totally scared.  Completely and irrevocably vulnerable.  He worried his bottom lip for a few minutes, opened his mouth as if to speak, chickening out and closing it, trying his best to keep eye contact with the patient Lavi.

“I’ve been feeling things lately; emotions and sensations I’ve never felt before.  I’ve always read that these feelings are supposed to be associated with someone of the opposite sex, not the same.  I wanted to spend a bit of time alone to get over these feelings because I knew you wouldn’t approve…”

Lavi chuckled as he ghosted his hand over Allen’s cheek, sitting up completely to face Allen.

“Allen, it’s perfectly fine for you to feel this way.  Love has no boundaries, so whoever you fall for is who you fall for, plain and simple.  Fuck those narrow and close-minded assholes that say love and marriage should be between only a man and woman.”

“But you don’t feel the same way, that’s why…” he murmured, his eyes welling up again as he began to shift his body away from Lavi, stopping when Lavi’s fingers wrapped around his wrist.

“I’m not going to look at you any differently; you are you and always will be the gentle, caring, adorable smartass that I know.  And above all else right now, you’re still sick and need tending to.  We’ll talk about this more tomorrow when you’re feeling better and I’ve had some sleep,” he grinned wickedly as he suddenly tossed his blanket aside, leaping on top of and pinning Allen to the bed beneath him.

If he knew Lavi felt the same way, he wouldn’t have pouted and turned his gaze away from Lavi, hovering inches above him.  He really wished he could’ve just gone home and thought this through before he had to say anything.

“Goodnight, Lavi,” he whispered, shutting his eyes tightly as tears leaked down his face, tensing his trapped hands into fists, wishing that Lavi would just leave him to his thoughts.

Frowning in his defeat at an ill-mannered attempt to cheer Allen up and get his mind off such rubbish thoughts, he released Allen’s wrists and rolled back to his side of the bed that suddenly seemed colder than it ever had before.

“And you’re wrong, Allen.  I do feel the same way.  I _do_ like you, a lot,” he smiled sadly as he gently ran a hand through the silver locks on the back of Allen’s head; the teen had since rolled to face away from him.  “Just get some rest and we’ll talk tomorrow.”


	7. Chapter 7

** Chapter 7 **

Being a bit of a hypocrite, seeing as he wasn’t going to be getting any rest anytime soon, Lavi’s mind raced at the conversation he and Allen had just shared.  He now knew that Allen, his cute, smart, younger male neighbor had a crush on him.  And despite the fact that Lavi had just revealed how he also felt about their current situation, he couldn’t yet bring himself to do anything to prove to Allen just how much he really meant to him.

‘I’ll just talk to Allen tomorrow afternoon if he’s feeling better and we’ll see where things go from there.  It’s just kinda maddening having this happen the day before his birthday though.  What if he doesn’t really believe me and thinks I’m just saying things to make him feel better, so he doesn’t run from his feelings?’ the redhead mused, mulling over thought after thought, consequence after consequence until his mind became totally exhausted, not wanting to think another thought.

But he still couldn’t sleep.  ‘May as well do something productive then,’ he sighed as he uncovered himself, running a hand through his hair in an ill attempt to calm his bed-head while he stood staring down at the silver haired beauty who was currently sprawled out over his half of the bed with his blanket kicked to the floor.

He finally turned and grabbed for a T-shirt in his closet, pulling it over his head as he snuck from his room, gently closing the bedroom door behind him.

‘I guess I could make him a cake,’ Lavi mused, glaring down at Miya, who was now lacing her body nimbly between his ankles as he walked down the hall to the kitchen.  ‘I don’t even know if he likes chocolate or vanilla more…’

He began pulled open a cabinet and grabbed a box of each type of cake mix he had, eyeing the packages.  “Marble it is,” he mused out loud as he set the boxes down, setting to work pulling out mixing bowls, spoons, and other various utensils and ingredients, remembering to pre-heat the oven.

Some ten minutes later, the cake batters were being poured in a cake pan and gently pushed and pulled in various directions to give it a swirling effect before being placed in the oven.  He then set to work washing everything he had just used before he began pulling out more ingredients and utensils to make homemade butter cream icing.

“Perfect,” Lavi smiled as he licked a bit of the fresh icing off his finger.  “Now what color should I make it?”

He eyed his four color choices: red, yellow, blue, and green.

With an unnecessary shrug, he scooped about half the icing into another bowl, placing several drops of blue food coloring in the bowl with the most icing and a few drops of yellow in the other, mixing them both thoroughly before covering them with plastic wrap and setting them in the fridge.

With another 15 minutes or so until the cake would be ready to be pulled from the oven, he washed the newly dirtied dishes and then sat down at the table, his chin in the palm of one hand while the fingers on his other hand drummed idly on the table’s surface.  Sadly, he ended up doing nothing but sitting like that until the cake timer went off.

The cake now cooling innocently on the counter, Lavi opted for watching some TV until Allen woke up and so found himself curled up under his plush blanket on the couch, remote in hand, a few moments later.  For about 10 minutes he channel surfed before deciding there was nothing on worth watching, so he clicked it off and huddled down comfortably into his couch and managed to nod off.

When he finally came to with a stretch and a yawn, he stood, tossing the blanket on the back of the couch, and decided to check up on Allen, stopping when he noticed a shiny object on the table just off to the side of the hallway, by the door.

A pain like he had never felt before washed over him as he picked up the key and held in tightly in his hand to his chest.  Had he lost his friend?

He managed to drag his feet down the hall to his room, his eyes watering up as the pain tightened his chest at the sight of an empty bed.

“Allen…”

“What?” came a voice from the bathroom before a head with silver, damp, and neatly brushed hair poked out from behind the door with a toothbrush hanging from his mouth.

Startled, Lavi spun around, eyes wide, and accidently stepping on the ever present foot tickler know as Miya’s tail, who wailed in protest and ran away to hide.  “I thought you had left…”

“Well, I did for a little bit so I could get some clean clothes,” Allen said after rinsing his mouth.

“No, no,” Lavi sighed, a smile tugging his lips.  “I thought you had left for good.”

“Why would I leave?”

“Well, there was that whole conversation last night and when I woke up just now, your key was just sitting there on the table and you’re weren’t in the bed…”

Allen clicked off the bathroom light and smiled sweetly as he stood in front of the redhead.  “Lavi, I always put the key there so I knew where it is.”

Today, for whatever reason, was the first day that he could recall ever seeing the key sit there, but he let it go.  He believed Allen.  “You hungry?”

Allen grimaced.  “I don’t think my stomach is quite ready for food.”

“You…ready to talk then?” Lavi asked, suddenly not able to look into Allen’s eyes, but thinking that he just witnessed the teen turn a couple shades paler at these words.

“Sure.”

For the sake of convenience, they opted for sitting on the bed, each sitting on their respective side of the bed, backs to each other; Allen studying his fingers as they locked and his thumbs rubbing together and Lavi staring at a spot of paint on his closet door.  Neither really wanted to start the awkward conversation.

Allen finally broke through the tense atmosphere.

“Do you care that I feel this way?” he asked softly, now staring out Lavi’s bedroom window as his hands tightened on each other as he waited for the response.

“Allen,” Lavi chuckled, making the other occupant stiffen and tense considerably.  “You’re not the only guy who’s ever felt this way about another guy.  I’ve had a boyfriend here and there.”

“But have you ever felt the way I have before with any of them?” he asked, his knuckles white and his throat constricting from nervousness.

“Well, how exactly do you feel?”

Lavi turned slightly to look at Allen, who lowered his head, his hands relaxing a bit as he thought of how to voice his emotions.

“I…I get excited when I’m near you; I want to hug you and be as close to you as I can all the time.  I can’t stand being away from you at all.  You’re all I think about, and if I had other friends you’d be all I talk about with them.  I used to be afraid of people before; I didn’t want to get hurt when I finally did find someone I really cared for.  It’s like everyone that I let even remotely close found some flaw or habit that they hated me for and would start talking to me less and less…”

Lavi was almost certain that Allen was crying.

“Am I the first person you’ve felt these things for?”

“Yes.”

Lavi knew that feeling; Allen was already in love.

“I’ve felt that way once before, but in the end he just wanted to use those feelings to his advantage, so I got rid of him even though it hurt me so much…”

A silence fell, save for an occasional sniff from the teen, before Allen finally called Lavi’s name.  “Do you,” he sighed, raking a hand through his silver locks in frustration before turning and sitting fully on the bed, now facing Lavi, who was still turned enough to face him.  “Do you feel the same for me?”

Lavi studied the confused and vulnerable teen’s face and eyes before he finally answered.  “Not exactly the same, but I do like you a lot,” he said as he turned more to face Allen better.

Unable to restrain himself any longer, Allen pounced the distance of the mattress and wrapped his arms tightly around Lavi’s neck, tears spilling freely from his eyes as he buried his face in the redhead’s chest.  He needed someone to make these feelings make sense, to put his mind at ease.

Lavi, caught off guard from the sudden attack, finally embraced Allen tightly, whispering in his ear in an attempt to soothe him.  “Your feelings are nothing to be afraid of.”

“But it’s not normal either!” he sobbed.

“Normal is whatever you deem to be normal.  Normal to society is a stereotype,” he reassured as he placed his hands on the tear stained cheeks before him.  “Look at me.”

Allen sniffed loudly and bit his bottom lip, not wanting to look at Lavi.

Lavi smiled softly, slowly snaking one hand under Allen’s chin and the other to his neck.  “Allen, look at me,” he breathed against the other’s cheek, his tongue lapping a few tears away from Allen’s face.

The teen still wouldn’t look, he only winced against the odd feeling of heat and moisture on his face, his bottom lip released from its confines as he quickly inhaled from the sensation.

“If you’d just look at me, I wouldn’t be doing that,” he whispered in Allen’s ear before he lapped up another tear and backed away, finally meeting Allen’s unsure gaze.

“I’m looking,” he breathed, licking his bottom lip before tucking it between his teeth again.

“Then watch,” Lavi replied as he moved Allen’s face closer to his own, the teen’s mouth falling open and his eyes widened as the distance between them vanished.

As their lips met in an awkward manner, Lavi wasn’t at all surprised that Allen wasn’t trying to kiss back.  He was sure it was all a mixture of shock, embarrassment, and inexperience that he didn’t even attempt.

Lavi began to back away, shocked as Allen moved forward to keep the distance between them minimal, his arms tightening around Lavi’s shoulders and neck.

As surprised olive locked with pleading gray, Allen breathed against Lavi’s lips, “Teach me.”

“Just do as I do,” he whispered, his lips brushing against Allen’s with each word before he claimed those pale, soft lips in another kiss.  Allen tried to mimic Lavi’s actions, but stiffened when he felt a tongue on his lower lip.  “Open your mouth,” Lavi murmured before slipping his tongue inside the obedient teen’s mouth, startling Allen at the sensation.

Again Allen was scared and nervous, his own tongue seemingly trying to avoid Lavi’s, the feeling of them rubbing together completely foreign to Allen.

The redhead backed away a moment later, smiling lopsidedly as he rested their foreheads together.  “You have to play too; it’s not a one sided thing.”

The teen nodded, trying his best to keep eye contact.  “It just feels so weird…”

“You’ll learn to like it,” he said as he dipped down again, taking advantage of Allen’s already parted lips.

Allen, reassured in his attempts, quickly caught on and the pair was soon fervently kissing, the younger moaning into Lavi’s mouth as all these new sensations washed over him, filling him to the brim.  He hadn’t even noticed that his hands had found their way under Lavi’s shirt to his taught stomach.

Once the kissing and roaming hands became too much for Lavi to handle, he abruptly pulled away from Allen altogether, both of their faces flushed.

“What’s wrong?” Allen inquired, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion, as he wiped saliva away from his kiss swollen lips.

“You learned how to kiss _way_ to well,” Lavi panted slightly, “but I can’t teach you anything else until tomorrow.”

“Why not?” Allen nearly pouted, already wanting to feel those lips against his again.

“Because it would be called rape,” Lavi grinned wickedly as he chastely kissed Allen.

At this, Allen’s entire face flushed a bright red as his mind wrapped around what those words implied.

“But,” Lavi purred in his ear, one of his hands running through the teen’s hair, “I can take care of this for you,” he continued as he trailed a finger on his free hand over the bulge in Allen’s pants.

“N-n-no!  That’s okay!” he stammered, totally embarrassed now.  “I’ll take care of it myself!”

“Well then,” Lavi said as he leaned in for another quick kiss, “while you take care of that, I’ve got something to finish as well.”

The redhead stood and headed to the kitchen while the flustered teen make a quick route to the bathroom, quickly closing the door behind himself.


	8. Chapter 8

** Chapter 8 **

Lavi had since iced the cake with the blue icing and had begun to pipe the yellow icing around the edges, some of the delicious sugar mixture escaping the bag and onto Lavi’s fingers thanks to him occasionally squeezing the decorating bag too tightly when the rather erotic moans of his neighbor floated to him through the apartment.  He only hoped that the other neighbors couldn’t hear this…He could only imagine what Mana would do to him if he heard his son moaning Lavi’s name.

‘I can’t do this,’ the redhead thought as the icing bag now was suspended over the middle of the cake.  ‘It’ll be a disaster if I do this part now.’  Setting the icing bag aside, he placed both hands on the counter and hung his head in defeat.  ‘I’ll have to wait until he’s done.’

Deciding that putting the icing in the fridge and covering the cake was the best move at the moment, he did so and then dragged himself down the hall to see how things were going, or rather how much longer this was going to drive him insane with lust.

Big mistake.

“Nngh…Oh!” was just the beginning of the muffled moans and works that came from behind the closed bathroom door as he sat on his bed, staring wide eyed at the door, his own excitement nearly too much to handle.

He couldn’t escape it; couldn’t escape that voice, those moans!

With one last strangled sob, all became quiet.  Lavi then released a breath in which he hadn’t known he’d been holding, soon after hearing the toilet flush and the sink taps turn on.  Allen emerged shortly after with a beautifully flushed face and wide eyes as he stared at his audience.

“Everything come out alright?” Lavi teased as Allen walked to his side of the bed, smashing the redhead in the face with his pillow.

“It’s your fault!” he cried in embarrassment as he hit him again with the pillow for good measure.

“And I offered to fix the problem, but no…” he continued to tease as Allen relentlessly bashed him with his pillow before he finally grabbed the offending object, quickly hauling it, along with the still attached teen, down to the bed where Lavi pounced on him.  Allen face down with Lavi straddling his back.  “Not so big and bad now, are we?”

The silver haired teen then started squirming until he managed to turn himself over under Lavi’s weight, glaring playfully up at him as their hands laced together.

“So, what did you do while I was in there, other than enjoy the finale?”

“Other than worrying about your dad coming over here and maiming me for ‘raping’ you,” he smirked as Allen turned red.

“Was I really that loud?” Allen squeaked.

Lavi simply nodded before continuing, “I was _trying_ to ice your birthday cake.”

“You made me a cake?” Allen gasped in awe, those gray eyes sparkling like a child’s.

Laughing at the expression, Lavi rolled off of Allen to lie next to him, their fingers still twined on one hand, even as Allen rolled onto his side to look at the redhead while his free arm folded beneath his head.

“What kind?”

“Marble.  I didn’t know which flavor you liked better.  Or what other flavor, for that matter.”

“Strawberry is my favorite flavor anything, for the record, but I’ll eat or at least try any type of sweet!” he beamed.  “Could I maybe try some of your icing?”

“You and your fruit obsession and insatiable sweet tooth,” Lavi sighed, though he was still smiling, before he rolled off the bed.  “And for the record, you still have a mess to clean up,” he said as he gestured in the direction of the closet before the pair started toward the kitchen.

“For _your_ record, I cleaned it up before I took a shower.”

Green eyes glowered playfully at the comment before he focused on extracting the icing from the fridge.

“It’s my great-grandmother’s recipe,” Lavi explained as he sat the bowl in front of Allen at the table.  “You should be completely satisfied by this amount of sugary goodness.”

Not even two seconds after Lavi handed him a spoon, Allen was shoveling the icing in his mouth like there was no tomorrow coming.  “This is so amazing delicious,” he managed between spoonfuls.

Lavi just laughed at him, reaching across the table and wiping some of the icing from the teen’s cheek before licking it off his own finger.  “Good thing there wasn’t much left,” he said as he then took the now empty bowl and set it in the sink, running hot water to soak it.  “Otherwise you’d either be on a sugar high for days or complain of sugar induced migraine within minutes.”

Allen giggled as he licked the remainder of the sugary substance from his lips with his blue tinted tongue.  “I don’t know if either would happen; I might throw up a partial rainbow now.”

Lavi began to laugh.  “Yeah, sugar probably wasn’t the best thing to give you after a day and a half of being sick and not eating…”

They stared at each other over the table for a few moments before Allen hesitantly spoke up.  “So…when are you going to teach me?”  Just what was that suggestive tone suddenly all about?

“Teach you what?  We have more than one subject to school you on now,” the redhead grinned cheekily as he pulled the cake and yellow icing bag from the fridge, deciding that he was now steady and capable enough to finish the cake.  Sadly, since his back was turned to Allen, he didn’t get to see the lovely blush explode across his cheeks.

“How to cook!” he replied, caught off guard that Lavi’s mind was partially in the gutter.

Lavi didn’t answer him immediately; he was now bent over the cake, tongue poking from the corner of his mouth in concentration as he wrote “Happy Birthday Allen” across it.  When he was finished, he stood upright, eyeing his creation with the icing bag poised for attack, finally setting it aside and deeming the cake finished.  “We’ll start this weekend.”

Allen couldn’t have timed it better if he had tried; as Lavi turned to face him, the words were already flowing from his mouth.  “And when are we starting my other lesson?” he inquired as though he were talking about the weather.  In all actuality, he was _very_ interested in when he was going to be taught some more; seeing as he was a teenager with no previous lovers, he was well past due!

“Anytime you’re ready,” Lavi replied, taken aback that Allen was so willing to try having this deep of a relationship already. “Other than today, of course; you’re not legal until tomorrow.”

They smiled at each other, not really knowing what else to say.  The olive eyed male turned and began to cover the cake again, setting it off to the side and beginning to clean his icing bag while Allen vanished to the living room to get something from his bag.

When the teen returned to the kitchen, Lavi was again leaning over the cake, examining it carefully and nearly fell face first into it from the shock of a sudden burst of light off to his side.

“I hate having my picture taken!” Lavi whined as he rebalanced himself, pouting at the grinning Allen.

“You’d better get used to it!” Allen stated rather matter-of-factly.  “And the cake looks wonderful.”

“Glad you approve,” he said as Allen set his camera down next to the cake, wrapping his arms around Lavi soon after.  Lavi returned the gesture, gently rocking them back and forth as Allen practically melted into him.  “What do you want to do now since you’re finally feeling better?”

“First,” he said as he released the redhead and headed to a certain cabinet, opening it and pulling out a small can.  “Miya needs to be fed,” he murmured as he concentrated on pulling the tab back; as if on cue, the little fur-ball came prancing into the room, mewling up at the teen as he threw the can lid away.  After he set the can down in her feeding spot, he walked back over to his new lover, twining their fingers together.  “And now, we can go do something.”

“Like what?”

“We could go for a walk,” Allen suggested.  He didn’t really want to leave the apartment, still just a tad on the queasy side, but knew that Lavi probably wanted to get out for a bit.

“Sounds like a start,” Lavi agreed, “but I need to change first.  Then how about dinner?”

Again, it wasn’t completely appealing to Allen, but he agreed, following Lavi down the hall, unable to tear his eyes away from Lavi’s body as he pulled the shirt over his head.

“What are you gawking at?  It’s not the first time you’ve seen me in my underwear,” Lavi pointed out, raising his eyebrows seductively.  “Unless you’re hoping I’ll show you the rest…”

Allen merely blushed and turned away.  “Where did you have in mind to eat?  I haven’t been out too much to know any good places.”

“We’ll find a place,” Lavi replied as he tugged a clean shirt over his head, already clad in a pair of dark blue jeans.  He then sat down and began to pull on some socks.  “I’ll be ready in a few minutes.”

Allen nodded and went to wait on the couch for Lavi to finish getting ready, smiling as the older male joined him in the room, reaching his hand down to Allen and hauling him up from the couch before they were headed out the door.

“Allen,” Lavi started a moment later as they walked towards the staircase, looking to their laced fingers, “do you want us to look like a couple or just two guys out having a good time?  I don’t care either way…”

“Well, you should care,” was the rather indignant response as Allen pouted slightly.  “You’re the one that said we shouldn’t be afraid of the stereotypes!  You should be proud to show everyone, without fear, that you have someone special!”

“Cheeky bastard, aren’t ya?” Lavi grinned, tightening his grip on Allen’s hand.  “And you’re right.  Sorry I even asked.”

xxx

Since Allen hadn’t really been out in the city other than with his father and with Lavi for short shopping trips and meals, he didn’t know where anything was save for the grocery store and a few fast food places.  He couldn’t ever imagine the city had such a beautiful park.

The redhead smiled fondly as Allen darted among the thousands of wildflowers, scattering butterflies and other various bugs as he stood over the blooms snapping pictures.  The silver haired teen, after having enough pictures of the flowers, ventured around taking pictures of seemingly random things for some time, eventually returning to Lavi, who was never more than a few yards away, when the sun began to set.

“I take it you’re hungry?” Lavi inquired as Allen put his camera carefully away, his stomach growling loudly.

“Maybe a little,” he admitted as they grasped each other’s hand.  “Where should we go now?”

As they headed for the park exit, Lavi ran a list of restaurants through his head, finally settling on a little bistro down the street.

After a wonderful meal at a candlelit table, they headed back to the apartment where they promptly curled up on the couch together and watched TV until Allen started nodding off.  Lavi ushered him down the hall to fall asleep in each other’s embrace.

xxx

Lavi couldn’t bring himself to wake the peacefully sleeping teen on his bed the following morning, despite the fact that he wanted to be the first to wish the boy a happy birthday.  He knew he wouldn’t see him for hours since he had to now get ready for his classes.

Allen, of course, woke up several hours later to an empty apartment, save for Miya and himself.  As he sat up in bed, stroking the kitten as he yawned, he noticed that he didn’t feel any different, any older.  He still felt like his normal self and was craving his lover’s attention and affection.

Letting his empty tummy lead him, he ended up in the kitchen where he began to randomly open and close cabinets and the fridge.  He finally settled on bowl of cereal after feeding Miya.

As per usual on days Lavi had class, he ended up on the couch beneath the blanket with the kitten, channel surfing.  ‘What a birthday,’ he mused dully as he pet the cat on his lap.  ‘At least I get to actually spend a birthday with a friend.’

It dawned on him that he was finally a ‘man’ so to speak; he now how more privileges, not that he needed them.  He could now buy cigarettes, not that he smoked or ever cared to, and porn, not that he ever watched or needed it.  He was now also totally legal to do adult things with his new lover, which he was eagerly ready to learn.

  1. I guess I should get something out for dinner…’



He felt bad for waking the comfortably sleeping kitten, but he gently lifted her from his lap and sat her on the cushion next to him before heading to the kitchen.  He didn’t want Lavi to work too hard on dinner tonight, or anything else for that matter.  He wanted as much Lavi time as he could get.  ‘I’m already such a pervert and we haven’t done anything her than make out…’

xxx

Two hours had come and gone, and yet still no sign or work of Lavi’s return, and Allen was bored.

And craving cake.

He had tucked Miya in the bedroom and now stood outside of the apartment with the door propped open, letting some fresh air in, while he leaned against the railing that prevented people from falling off the floor, looking down at the city below.

Another hour had passed and Allen had since returned inside, clutching his phone in his hand, hoping that Lavi would call and let him know what was going on.

As he checked his phone yet again for any text messages or missed calls, he realized with a horrified gasp, ‘It’s Friday the 13th!  Something bad must have happened!’

Terrified, he quickly dialed Lavi’s phone.

“Yes, dear?” came the cheeky response a few rings later.

The silver haired teen sighed in relief, slumping against the couch.  “I thought something bad had happened to you!  You normally would have been home over an hour ago!”

The redhead laughed.  “Sorry, _mom_ , I just ran into an old friend and we were talking.  I’m almost home now.”

“Hurry up!  I want cake!”

Again Lavi laughed.  “Yeah, yeah, you’ll get your damn cake.”

“Hey, at least I pulled some stuff out for dinner!”

“Nice!  I’ll start on it as soon as I get home.  Get a hold of your dad and see if he’s coming over for dinner too.”

“I will; and please be careful on the way home!”

“Don’t worry!  Friday the 13ths have always been good luck days for me,” he lied, considering the fact that it wasn’t just any old friend that he ran into, but his ex.  The one he used to be in love with and still had some lingering feelings for despite how he had been treated.  And his ex had been unusually nice in their brief, unexpected meeting.  Other than that, these days _were_ usually lucky for him.  “I’ll see you in about five minutes.”

“Alright, see ya then,” Allen said as he hit the end call button, quickly called Mana, and then set his phone on the arm of the couch as he adjusted to get more comfy.

And sure enough, within five minutes, Lavi was home.

“I told you I’d be fine,” Lavi murmured as he laid a gentle kiss to the head of the teen so desperately clinging to him no sooner than he had entered the apartment.

Allen released him shortly after and the pair headed into the kitchen, Lavi tossing his book bag onto the table before suddenly whirling around to face the teen and scooping him up into his arms and slightly off the floor before kissing him.  Allen instantly wrapped his arms around Lavi’s shoulders, now standing on his tiptoes, as he gladly returned the kiss.

Within seconds, Lavi had Allen sitting on a nearby counter top, running his hands up and down Allen’s back beneath his shirt while Allen tried to press himself closer to Lavi, something not so soft pressing against his stomach after Allen’s legs began to wrap around Lavi’s hips.

“Not until later,” the redhead breathed before quickly diving in for another kiss, smiling as he looked into pleading gray eyes, his hands coming to rest on Allen’s hips.  “What did your dad say about dinner?”

“He said he won’t be home in time for dinner unless we eat late, but he would definitely love some cake,” he relayed as he ran a hand through Lavi’s soft red hair, his free arm draped over Lavi’s shoulder.  “You ready to start teaching me to cook?”

Lavi replied simply by sliding Allen from the counter and kissed him again before he turned to see what had been pulled out for their meal.  From there, they set to work.

Thankfully Allen didn’t pick anything too difficult for his first home cooked meal, so things were only minimally charred, but edible.

The pair had sat down to eat, setting some food aside for Mana, and then Lavi started on the dishes when they were done eating.  As Lavi washed, Allen sat on the counter next to the sink swinging his legs back and forth as they talked.

“Alright,” Lavi grinned as he wiped his hands off on a hand towel when the last of the dishes were in the dish drainer.  “You stay put for a minute.”

Curious as Lavi left the room, Allen did as he was told.

“Happy birthday, Allen,” Lavi smiled as he stood between the boy’s legs a minute or two later, offering Allen the bag with his birthday gift.

The birthday boy knew very well already what store this present had come from, seeing as the name of the shop was on the bag, and quickly checked its contents before setting it quickly, but very carefully beside him, and pressed his lips to Lavi’s.

“Why did you get me something so expensive?” he couldn’t help but ask as he eyed his new camera lens again.

“Because I had no clue what else to get you and I know you’ll use it.”

“I would’ve been totally happy with just you.”

Lavi couldn’t stop the heat that rose to his face as they stood there staring into each other’s eyes until an unexpected knock came at the door, startling them from the trance.

“Must be dad.  Miya’s still locked in your room, right?” he questioned as he hopped down from the counter, sliding as much as he could against Lavi.

“Are you always this horny?” Lavi grinned, glad that his lover had clothing that was loose and long enough to cover his arousal.

“Only since I’ve been with you,” Allen winked as Lavi headed to the door.  “Hurry up and get in here, dad!  I want cake!”

The two older men started laughed as Allen stood in the kitchen archway pouting pathetically.  By the time the two were in the kitchen to join Allen, said teen was already poised over the cake with a knife.

“I’m glad that you’ve been helping me take care of my son.  I know it’s rough on him with no friends and always having to move,” Mana said as he sat across from Lavi and Allen, Lavi and Mana eating their cake like civilized people while Allen ate his like a caveman.

“It’s no biggie; it’s actually been nice having him around so much.  I haven’t been partying once since he’s been staying here.”

They all chatted for a bit longer until they were either too full or tired of eating the cake, Lavi gathering the plates and forks and setting them in the sink, completely caught off guard as Allen had wrapped his arms around Lavi from behind.

Mana simply took it as a show of affection for everything that Lavi’s done for him.  At least until Lavi turned in Allen’s embrace and whispered in his ear, “Do you want him to know already?” and Allen, now being well trained in the art of kissing, had put one of his hands on the base of Lavi’s skull and pulled him down into a kiss so indescribable that everything around them simply melted away.

Their lips had almost met again shortly after they separated for a quick breath, both jerking away from each other slightly as Mana cleared his throat.

‘He’s going to kill me!’ Lavi’s mind screamed as he took in the unsure face of Mana Walker, the surely soon to be killer’s son standing beside him.

“Dad,” Allen began, drawing the main focus to his son.  “Moving here is the best birthday present you’ve ever given me.”

Mana didn’t speak for a few moments, Lavi subconsciously wrapping an arm around Allen’s back, his hand coming to rest on his hip.

“And how long have you two…” he finally spoke, unsure and hesitant.

“For almost two days now,” Lavi replied, terror upon his face.  He couldn’t help but whimper, “Please don’t kill me!”

The older man chuckled.  “Well, I suppose it will take some getting used to, but as long as he’s happy I don’t mind.  And I know I can trust him with you; because if you break him…” he trailed off threateningly.

“I don’t intend on it,” Lavi replied as he laced his fingers with Allen’s.

It was still completely obvious though that Mana wasn’t too thrilled with his son’s sexuality, but he should’ve known this would have happened seeing as his son was practically living next door with a guy that had also because his only friend.

The atmosphere was still awkward and slightly tense, but Mana spoke up.  “Everything was delicious,” he began as he stood, pushing his chair in.  “But I have an early project due tomorrow, so I’ll be off to bed.”

“Thanks for coming over and celebrating with us,” Lavi smiled.

Mana returned the smile, turning to leave.  “Goodnight, you two.”

“Night, dad!”

“Why did you do that?!”Lavi whimpered as he turned to face Allen no sooner than the door was shut behind Mana.

“Because it’s better that he finds out now than walking in on us some day and kill you,” he shrugged, smiling sheepishly.  “But everything’s fine and will work out.  So, now can you please school me?”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes:** This chapter contains a **LEMON** ; no, not the fruit.  XD  So read at your own discretion.  I’m hoping I made it ten times hotter than the previous version (that is if you read the old version on FF.net)!

**Chapter 9**

_“So, now can you school me please?”_

Lavi let those not so innocent words process through his already befuddled mind as they both now stood in the living room, Allen standing directly in front of him, worrying his lower lip and eyeing the redhead not so innocently.

“Wait, you mean you’re actually serious?” Lavi inquired, staring down at the semi-angelic face before him.  “I didn’t really think…”

“Of course I’m ready!  Any other male at my age would’ve typically had sex with many partners!  But seeing as I’ve never been to a regular school or really had a normal life and the fact that I’ve never let anyone close to me, I’ve never had sex.  I think it’s about time I learn,” he whined pathetically yet matter-of-factly, now sporting an adorable pout.

The redhead still had some doubt. Sure he wouldn’t mind being intimate with someone again after who knows how long, but he and Allen had only officially been together just a little over a day.  He feared that after the deed was done, or maybe even during, that Allen would change his mind about his sexuality and leave him, just like everyone else had.

“Are _you_ ready?” the teen then inquired as he watched Lavi battle himself internally, wrapping his arms around his lover’s waist, olive eyes focusing down to beautiful grey.  “You don’t have to be scared for me.  I am a ‘man’ now,” he chuckled somewhat, smiling as Lavi’s hand wove through his hair.

“If it’s what you really want, then okay,” was he hesitant response.  “But you know you’re probably going to be hurting for a bit, right?”

“I know,” he smiled sweetly up at Lavi, cupping his cheek.

Only after a few more seconds of hesitation and muddled thoughts about consequences, Lavi unexpectedly scooped Allen up into his arms, carrying him down the hallways as Allen was attacking his neck in feather-light kisses.  He somehow managed to open the closed door, miss tripping on Miya as she scrambled the opposite direction, and carry him to the bed where he unceremoniously dropped the younger boy.

“You sure you don’t want to back out?” Lavi questioned as be backtracked a few steps and kicked the door shut while pulling his shirt over his head at the same time.

Allen sat up, watching Lavi’s every move hungrily.  “I’m not backing out.”

“Okay then,” Lavi purred as he began to crawl predatorily across the mattress.  Once he had reached his target, his lips found Allen’s, the younger teen more than willing to comply with demands.

Lips parted for each other and tongues waged war on familiar territory, the redhead’s hands traveling up the front of Allen’s shirt, his fingernails lightly grazing the boy’s flesh.

As Lavi teases his skin, Allen shivered and broke away from the kiss with a gasp, wrapping his fingers tightly in the red locks of his lover before he delved back in for another kiss.

Some minutes later, Lavi had made quick work of tossing aside Allen’s shirt and pushing the other to lie down on the bed.  His mouth then set to work on teasing the bare chest before him, from his small pink nipples, down his chest, and to his taught stomach, all the while reveling in the fact that Allen was squirming in pleasure beneath him.  He noticed idly that the other’s breath was slowly quickening the lower he went in his little adventure, not to mention the hands in his hair becoming more demanding by tugging slightly or by scratching his nails along the top of Lavi’s  back.

“Last chance,” the redhead breathed against Allen’s lips as he crawled back up his body to meet lust filled eyes.  Allen only smirked in response as he bucked his hips up gently to meet Lavi’s.

Quickly claiming Allen’s kiss swollen lips again, one of his hands roamed downward and deftly unbuttoned the teen’s pants and slid down the zipper too slowly for the silver haired teen’s liking.  He dealt with the teasing, however, and was more than happy to kick his pants and boxers off as the redhead began to peel them away.

Lavi couldn’t help but sit up, now hovering on his knees over Allen’s own as he took in the sight of the completely clothing free skin of the birthday boy.

Only gazing down for a few more moments at the arms lying on the pillow on either side of the Allen’s flushed face, which was turned slightly into said pillow, his hair splayed perfectly around his face as he stared hungrily up at his spectator, Lavi leaned down, placing an arm to prop himself up so he was just above the flushed face of his lover, his free hand finding Allen’s more than obvious arousal.

As Lavi’s fingers gently brushed over his member, just enough to otherwise be considered a tickle to any other part of skin, Allen’s eyes snapped wide open as he seemingly stared past Lavi’s head to the ceiling for a few moments, letting his mind reel in this new sensation.

Lavi alternated between teasing him, watching his expressions, and planting kisses along his jaw line and neck, deciding that he had teased enough and wrapped his hand gently around Allen’s member, said silver haired teen’s head snapping back so fast that it seemed that his neck would break and his mouth hung open in a silent moan, his mouth suddenly dry.  The redhead pumped him a few times, alternating his grip slightly as he slowly snaked his way back down Allen’s chest.

Allen, still not used to so many sensations at once, had since began to bite down on his lower lip, his eyes squeezed shut and his thin eyebrows furrowed as pleasure washed over him from all angles.

“Are you enjoying yourself?” Lavi murmured against his navel as the teen drew in a hissing breath above him.

“My god…It feels so much better than when I do it,” he managed to respond in a husky voice as Lavi continued to stroke him, slowly working up a faster rhythm.

“It’ll get better than this, I assure you,” Lavi smiled, releasing his hold on Allen.

Lust filled grey orbs snapped open when Lavi abandoned his throbbing need, his expression alone demanding to know why he was left untouched until he noticed that Lavi had since slunk lower to rest between his thighs, the redhead’s tongue flicking over the swollen shaft before him.

Allen had propped himself up on his elbows, looking down dazedly into Lavi’s olive colored eyes as he took his erection into his mouth.  It was too much for him to fully comprehend; all he knew was that he wanted deeper into that moist haven.  But Lavi wasn’t going to have that.

As Lavi pinned the teen’s bucking hips down to the mattress, Allen sunk back down to his pillow, covering his mouth as something began to warm the pit of his stomach, stifling the moans that threatened to spill from his lips.  However, he was no match for the bliss that was burning hotter within him, reaching his groin.  His fingers found shelter in the pillowcase and sheet beneath him as the heavenly sorrow washed over him, a strangled sob escaping into the otherwise silent room as he came for the first time in his life with someone else’s aid.

The redhead sat up, smiling as he wiped a bit of the white substances Allen had just bestowed upon him from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.  “Feel good?” as he nudged the teen’s legs into another position as he stared into glazed grey eyes beneath him.

The birthday boy could only nod slowly, panting and trying his best to catch his breath, trying to focus on Lavi through his orgasm induced mind.

“And it’ll get even better than that,” Lavi assured as he leaned over the teen and opened the nightstand drawer, pulling out a container of lube.

“Let me rest a minute first,” Allen gulped down air, wrapping his arms lazily about Lavi’s neck and pulling him in for a searing kiss.  Lavi obliged willingly, for a few  minutes anyway, until he could no longer ignore his own desire.

While continuing to kiss Allen, Lavi managed to pop open the top of the lube container and squeezed some onto his fingers, tossing the small bottle aside before reaching down between them, gently pushing a digit into Allen.

The teen beneath him broke the kiss, hissing as he felt the intruder enter him, but tried to relax as Lavi whispered soothing words of comfort in his ear.

Since it was Allen’s first time, Lavi took his time in preparing his lover, showering him with kisses and teasing his member, finally giving in slightly to his own needs and rubbing his rock hard member against Allen’s.

Once he felt Allen was ready, he removed his fingers and sat up, gently holding Allen’s legs under his knees, opening his mouth to say something, only Allen beat him to the punch.

“I’m _not_ backing out!  So hurry up!” he moaned, the pillow held firmly in his hands beneath his head for support, arching his back in need as his eyes pleaded with Lavi’s.

Needing no further reassurance from the teen, he reached for the lube bottle again and began to prepare himself before slowly pressing into Allen.  However, it was much too slow for the younger boy’s liking as he suddenly sat up, breaking his legs free from Lavi’s grip, and reversed their positions as he seated himself on Lavi’s lap, pressing the length fully into him.

“Horny much?” Lavi grunted, supporting his weight awkwardly from the sudden attack.  Finally rebalancing himself and situating his body comfortably, he resisted his urge not to slam the teen against the headboard with everything he had as he took in the sight of Allen’s head rolled back, part of his bangs covering his right eye, and his lips pursed tightly closed to keep himself from crying out whatever emotion he was feeling at that moment.

Lavi was shocked, to say the least, as Allen began to lift and lower himself slowly upon his aching length a few minutes later, working at his own pace that was growing steadily faster.  He couldn’t take the torture, himself however, and began to fight Allen for the lead, bucking his hips to meet Allen’s pace a few times before pushed the teen back down to the bed, slamming into him a couple times and _finally_ getting Allen to moan out loud, which maybe wasn’t the greatest idea he had ever had considering the fact that his voice was so damn… _delicious_!

After a few calmer thrusts, Lavi stopped and adjusted his position as he racked a hand through his sweat dampened hair, licking his lips as he stared down at Allen, removing himself from the tight heat.  “Turn over,” Lavi demanded, coaxing the teen onto his elbows and knees facing away from him before he quickly reentered Allen, gritting his teeth and furrowing his eyebrows in sheer concentration as he thrust deeply into the writing teen, who was arching his back and meeting him thrust for thrust.

Allen had since reclaimed his hold on the pillow, his slender fingers curled tightly into the material while moans and sobs of pleasure were muffled into it as the heat began to bubble once again within him.

The redhead knew Allen wasn’t going to be able to hold off for much longer; his voice was rising in pitch and coming in shorter intervals with each rock of his hips, and he wasn’t too far behind himself.

Unable to resist going over the edge of oblivion any longer, Allen’s head shot back and he was supporting his weight on his hands, abandoning the pillow completely, as he released his seed with a cry of something unintelligible while Lavi continued to slam into him a few more times before he too came, pressed as far and deep as he could into Allen releasing a guttural moan before they both collapsed to the sheets in a heap and tangle of limbs.

Both lay there for several minutes trying to catch their breath and reclaim their bodies as Lavi finally rolled off Allen’s back and to the side so he was able to once again look into those orgasm glazed eyes.

He drank in the sight of Allen as his hand met his cheek, propping his head up.  “How was it?”

“Can…” he inhaled.  “Can we do it again?” Allen smiled as he licked his dry lips, finally mustering enough strength to push his sweaty bangs away from his face.  “Kidding!” he then laughed as Lavi’s face took on an expression of pure shock.  “It was _much_ better than I had expected.”

“Glad you enjoyed yourself,” Lavi breathed.  “Ready for a shower?”

Allen nodded and the pair lazily made their way into the bathroom where they took turns washing each other and stealing kisses and nibbles on flesh.

After drying off, they emerged feeling fresh and clean, though wrinkling their noses slightly at the lingering scent of sex when they reentered the bedroom.  Lavi made quick work of stripping off the soiled bedclothes and tossing them aside to be washed in the morning.

“Feeling the after effects yet?” the redhead inquired as they curled up under a new blanket moments later before he yawned, wrapping his arms tightly around his lover.

“Not yet,” Allen murmured against Lavi’s bare chest.  Silence fell comfortably over them for some time before Allen spoke up.  “I just want to say thank you for the lesson, even though I’m sure I still have a lot more to learn.”

“Indeed you do,” Lavi smiled as he ran a hand idly through the clean silver locks before him until sleep washed over them.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimers: I don't own D. Gray-man. I'm just using the characters for my entertainment! Enjoy!

Notes: This fic is AU. Lavi has both eyes and Allen has no scar and a normal arm. I also made up birthdays for them even though they official ones, as it was appropriate to the story. :D

**Chapter 10**

The next morning, Allen finally managed to crack open his eyes around noon.  Even after sleeping so long, he still didn’t feel like being awake; he felt like he could sleep a few more hours with as heavy as his eyelids felt.  However, it was the weekend and he would have Lavi all to himself.

“Lavi?” the teen yawned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes with a wide yawn.  “Lavi?” he called again.  Sitting up, thinking that his lover was still in a deep sleep much like he wanted to be in, he tossed the blanket aside and looked over, curious as to where the redhead was.  It was rare that Lavi was awake before he was without an alarm clock.

He now was awake enough to move more than just his arms, and so hefted himself up and placed his feet on the soft carpet, wiggling his toes in it in an attempt to pop and stretch them while he rolled his shoulders a few times, which seemed much more tense than usual, and finally arched his back with his arms high over his head in a final stretch before he stood.

Soon after standing and taking a few steps, he realized what Lavi had meant about him being sore.  His whole body was aching, more so his rear-end.  However, rather than sinking back to the bed, he tried to ignore the mild pain and shuffled to the bathroom with a hand pressing into the small of his back.  ‘It was all worth it though,’ he grinned to himself as he closed the door and headed to the toilet.

“Allen?” he heard the redhead call a few minutes later as he began to adjust the taps for a nice relaxing shower.

“In here!” he called before stepping into the steamy flow of water.  He soon after heard the door creak open and then close again.  “What are you doing up so early on a weekend?”

“Well,” he chuckled as he closed the toilet lid and sat on it, “I guess after having sex again for the first time in a while, I feel rejuvenated.  I woke up at 9 a.m. on my own.”

Allen wasn’t quite sure he had heard the correct time in which Lavi had gotten up from bed, and so quickly stuck his head out from behind the shower curtain, his eyes wide and disbelieving.  “At nine?”

“Yeah, and wow…” Lavi whistled as he eyed Allen’s neck.  “I hope your dad doesn’t want to see you today.  I guess I got carried away…”

“What are you…?” the silver haired teen began as he then turned his head towards the mirror that hadn’t completely fogged over yet, his eyes widening as he took in the sight of several small purple and pink spots all around his neck and collarbone.  Allen flushed at the sight and quickly ducked back in the shower.  “I would say so.”

“Oh, well.  I was going to give you some today anyway,” Lavi then teased.  “But seriously, how are you feeling?”

“Sore all over!” Allen groaned at the thought of the pain and from the pleasure of the hot water now pouring over him.

“In all fairness, we both got carried away last night,” Lavi stated as he recalled how wild and willing the boy had been last night.

Allen was silent for a few minutes, just letting the water wash the pain away while he thought.  “Hey, Lavi?”

“Yeah?”

“I…I’m sorry I don’t know a lot about sex and positions and things…” he trailed off; he could feel his face heating from his own body reacting to what he was about to say, not from the steam of the water all around him.  “So if I go too far out of bounds, stop me.  I don’t want you to think I’m a freak or something…”

“Well, thankfully for you, there’s not much I haven’t done…or had done to me.  So you should be the one stopping me if I get out of line,” Lavi admitted as he stared down at his hands now tucked together between his knees.  “But for now, we should just stick to the basics until your body gets used to things.”

Allen felt a sudden pain shoot up his back as he thought about various sexual things; just thinking about having sex again right now hurt him.  “I suppose…”

“Well, hurry up and I’ll make some lunch for us.  Then, if you keep that cocky mouth of yours under control this afternoon, I might even give you a massage,” the redhead cooed as he left the room.

Allen couldn’t help but let a grin spread across his lips as he rinsed the shampoo from his hair.  He was glad Lavi was going to help him along in the wide and so far fun world of pleasure.

Lavi couldn’t resist a smile himself as he latched the bathroom door and headed out of the bedroom.  He was thankful that Allen hadn’t run away from him and was ready to learn more.

‘What for lunch?’ he mused as Miya began running between his ankles as he walked.  ‘I could always heat up that pot pie from the other night…’  Deciding that was the best option, seeing as he didn’t want to do too many dishes again today, he pulled out the ceramic baking dish of food and scooped out a couple portions into microwaveable bowls.

No sooner than the microwave door was shut and the buttons pressed, Allen had used some form of superior ninja skills and wrapped his arms around Lavi from behind, scaring the redhead senseless.

Gasping for breath at the sudden shock, Lavi turned to face a grinning teen with wide olive colored eyes.  “Please don’t do that,” he breathed as he leaned his forehead down on Allen’s shoulder, trying to shake the adrenaline from his body.

“It’s not like I intended to scare you that badly,” Allen murmured as he ran a hand soothingly through Lavi’s silky red hair.  “Sorry.”

The older boy’s arms snaked around Allen’s waist and he planted a kiss on his neck before bringing their foreheads to rest together.  “I know you didn’t mean to.”

They stood there for several moments, intently gazing into each other’s eyes.  Neither noticed it, but the small gap between them had nearly vanished to nothing, Allen’s arms wrapping around Lavi’s shoulders while his head tilted slightly to avoid their noses bumping together as their lips finally met in a rather sensual kiss.  Their mouths were already partially open when they met, Allen’s tongue slowly darted from his mouth to meet Lavi’s.

Had the timer on the microwave not gone off, Lavi was sure it would’ve been only a matter of time before he would’ve had the teen naked on the kitchen table.  He had never experienced a kiss so full of passion and love before.  Simply full of pure and raw emotions that Allen was trying to convey to him in his many years of inexperience and loneliness.

Ignoring the throbbing appendage against his thigh in his suddenly too tight jeans, Lavi slowly removed himself from the kiss, licking his bottom lip as he stared down into partially lidded silver eyes.  “That was amazing,” he breathed as he pushed some of Allen’s hair behind his ear.

The neighbor boy merely smiled lopsidedly and bit on his bottom lip as he watched Lavi turn and retrieve their lunch.

“This would’ve been so much better the night I made it,” the redhead murmured as he carefully placed the hot bowls on the table, “but since you were sick, you didn’t get to try it fresh.”

“Then you’ll just have to make it for me again soon,” Allen chided as he pulled out his self appointed chair and sat down, inhaling the wonderful scent of the food before him.  “Very soon…”

Lavi took his seat across from Allen, handing the teen a spoon before he did so.  “Hey, Sunday night I have a couple friends from college coming over for a study group.  You’re more than welcome to hang out with us.  Hell, as smart as you claim to be, you may even teach us a thing or two,” Lavi teased.

New people made Allen nervous.  He decided that he would at least stay for a short while and feel them out before deciding on whether or not to retreat to his own room until they had gone.

“I might stay for a bit anyway,” the silver haired teen replied, his gaze lowering to his food, his expression suddenly distant.

“C’mon now, they’re not so bad,” Lavi assured as he placed his free hand on his lovers.  “One of them doesn’t really talk a lot; he just kinda likes to sulk in a corner if he can.  And the other, well she’s…she’s a little more than I can handle sometimes,” he grinned.  “She’s almost like a female smartass version of you at times, now that I think about it.”

Allen let a small smile creep on his lips.

xoxoxox

“Hey, Allen!” Lavi called on the day of his study group, trying to coax the teen from the bedroom where he refused to come out because he was ‘having a bad hair day’.  In Lavi’s honest opinion, Allen needed to have more bad hair days; the one he was sporting today made him look absolutely fuckable and a little older.  “It’s not that bad, really!”

“I said no!”

Lavi sighed, knowing Allen wasn’t going to willingly unlock the bedroom door.

“Then wash it!”

“I don’t want to waste water!”

The redhead groaned, resting his forehead against the cold wood of the door.

“Please?” he begged.  “Just come out and at least let me introduce you.”

“No.”

An idea suddenly struck him, olive eyes alight as he stood away from the door, a cocky grin on his lips and his hands on his hips as he waited for the teen to fling the door open.

“Dessert.”

“You underhanded dirty son of…” Allen grumbled, and as predicted flung the door wide open with a somewhat shitty expression.

“Wow, potty mouth,” Lavi chuckled, slinging an arm around Allen’s shoulders.  “Your hair,” he started, leaning down and kissing the silver locks, “looks amazing.”

“No it doesn’t,” Allen growled as his hands came up to cover it.

“It does,” Lavi breathed in his ear, tracing the shell with his tongue.  “It makes me want to fuck you right now in front of them.”

Allen then turned bright red, beginning to duck back in the room.

“If you run, no dessert,” Lavi cooed the teen grumbling beside him with his arms crossed over his chest as he was steered towards the living room.

“It’s about time!” a perky young girl chirped as she stood from her cross-legged position on the floor and crossing the room to stand before them.  “I’m Lenalee!”

Allen suddenly felt like a small child, scared and timid, and tried to duck behind Lavi, who held him firmly in place.

“I’m Allen,” he mumbled, trying to look away from her in shyness.

“I know!” she beamed, her hands behind her back as she rolled on the ball of her heels.  “Lavi talks about you all the time, you know.  But Lavi,” she said, her smiled fading as she stood normally.  “He’s a lot younger than the others…”

Lavi waved her off, releasing Allen now that he felt he wasn’t going to bolt.  “So what?  I just get to be in charge for once.”

“But I thought you liked being on the reci…”

Lavi quickly clapped a hand over the now giggling girl’s mouth, his cheeks red.  When he pulled his hand away she simply grinning cheekily before shuffling back over to her pile of books and papers on the floor.

Once she had moved, Allen took notice of the other person sitting on the couch with long black hair in a ponytail, glaring at a book on their lap.

“I thought you said one of the people coming over was a guy?” Allen whispered in Lavi’s ear, standing on his tiptoes.

The redhead simply nodded.

Silver eyes fell again to the person on the couch, studying the person before he had to hold back a fit of giggles.

Apparently knowing that the giggles were directed at him, without warning a book went flying across the room towards the silver haired teen’s head.  Allen dodged said book easily and blatantly bent over laughing out loud.

Lavi sighed.  “Allen, Kanda.  Kanda, Allen,” he said monotone as he did a hand gesture between the two teens now face to face with each other.

“Moyashi,” he grinned cockily down at the shorter boy, an eyebrow twitching in irritation as there seemed to be sparks flying between their eyes.

“Does he not speak English?” Allen asked darkly to Lavi, glaring at the college student knowing that some sort of insult was thrown at him.

“He called you a ‘beansprout’,” Lenalee said offhandedly as though this happened every day as she scribbled something down in a notebook, then popping the lid off a blue highlighter and marking something in her book.

“It’s not ‘moyashi’,” Allen said in the same dark, evil voice, sending tremors down Lavi’s spine; he had _never_ heard that tone or seen this level of hatred from the teen before.  “It’s Allen, girly man.”

“Che,” was his response as the glare intensified that much more, their faces mere inches from each other with teeth gritted together, both challenging the other for a better comeback.

“Now, now,” Lavi giggled nervously, grasping Allen by the shoulders, who actually tried to shrug him off, and moved in between the quarrelling pair.  “No need to be so hateful.”

“Move,” Kanda growled lowly, now glaring at Lavi.  “I’ll show him how ‘girly’ I am!”

“Now, Yuu,” Lavi began, confused as to why his friend’s eyes suddenly seemed to cross and his body teeter backwards before he fell to his knees, seemingly completely spaced out.

“Honestly,” Lenalee sighed in a bothered tone, tucking the thick book she had just used upside Kanda’s head under her arm.  “Why do you have to fight with everyone?” she chided as she dragged him easily back to the couch.

Lavi looked between the two other males, Kanda still dazed, now holding his head and glaring feebly at Lenalee while Allen had his nose stuck up in the air and away from everyone, his arms crossed over his chest.

“But you know,” the redhead stated, idly noticing Allen venturing, or rather stomping, back down the hall to his room.  “I’ve never seen either of them like this.  Him, sure I’ve seen him fight with people before, but to outright insult him after a giggle?  And Allen…”

“He seems like a sweet kid,” she smiled, eyes twinkling in sincerity.  “He’s actually a good match for you.”

Lavi blushed, scratching his cheek with his index finger as he smiled in return.  “Thanks.”

“Now,” she smiled, setting back down in her fortress of books and notes.  “Let’s get this over with!”


End file.
